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(09/09/14 4:45pm)
The College is home to one of the best Educational Opportunity Fund programs in New Jersey, according to the College’s Director of the Educational Opportunity Fund Tiffani Warren, and as a result was honored with a $3,000 grant from Investors Bank on Wednesday, Aug. 27.
For 46 years, the EOF program has ensured the academic and personal achievements for students through helpful outlets such as tutoring, financial aid management, student-faculty guidance and more.
The Investors Bank, based in New Jersey, New York City and Long Island, supports unique educational, non-profit organizations that create stimulating and diverse communities.
“The support of Investors Bank allows us to fulfill our mission of providing students the tools to achieve academic and professional success, while ensuring that they have the financial resources necessary to complete their undergraduate educations,” Warren said. “The students are worth the investment, and we are so grateful to have such a strong partnership with Investors Bank.”
The EOF program has created a strong bond between the faculty and its students.
“Simply described, the EOF program is a big family — almost its own community,” said sophomore biology major and EOF student Maria Badilla. “EOF helps its students not only financially, but by providing the support specific to each student that will help us succeed in our personal, academic and professional lives.”
The grant money will be used toward enhancing the benefits the EOF program offers.
“The grant money helps fund programs that assist students with closing the full cost of attendance gap, adjusting to college life and addressing academic preparedness through guided advisement, financial support and innovative academic support services,” Warren said.
Working alongside the College’s Office of Development/Division of College Advancement, the EOF program continually searches for grant and donation opportunities through the EOF Promise Award Program. The success of accepted gifts and donations to the program are due to the efforts of two key players: Charles Wright, Associate Vice President for Development, and Angela Winterrowd, Major Gifts Officer, according to Warren.
“I think the most beneficial part (of EOF) is definitely all the resources the program provides,” said an EOF student who chose to remain anonymous. “The advisors always have their doors open, and I know I can turn to them if I ever need any advice, help with my schedule or if I just need to talk.”
The New Jersey EOF program was founded in 1968 with the objective to allow ambitious and determined, but financially struggling, students to reach higher education.
“The Promise Award ensures improved retention and graduation rates of EOF students,” Warren said.
The Promise Award, a critical part of EOF’s success, was established in 2004. It is calculated to meet the full cost of attending college by providing extra economic services to students and parents.
“Through the EOF program, I have been given the opportunity to attend such a prestigious institution without worrying about the burden that loans and debt can cause one to feel,” the student said. “Also, through the five-week summer program, not only did I make some of my best friends, but I am now ahead in my classes.”
The EOF program is currently running on a new “On Track” model. This new model supports students’ “academic, financial, personal/social and professional success,” according to Warren. The College’s EOF program guides over 370 students annually and has a growing number of students attending graduate school, according to Warren.
“The EOF program is one of the best programs I’ve been a part of on campus,” the student said. “Not only do they ensure student success through tutoring, advisors and student mentors, but this program is also a great network of people from all different backgrounds who bond through the summer program and create everlasting friendships.”
(09/02/14 4:45pm)
If students and faculty want to get fit with either the Zumba, Yoga, Pump Up the Pulse or Kickboxing classes the Fitness Center offers in the Recreational Center, there is a price they will now have to pay.
Popular among many students, the Fitness Center classes allows students to exercise in a fun, welcoming environment with their friends while being taught by certified student instructors — these classes, however, have undergone recent changes.
Instead of classes being free for faculty and students, there is now a semester membership fee: $20 per student and $50 for faculty. The Fitness Center is re-implementing the membership fee that was revoked three years ago.
“The fee has been put back in place to provide TCNJ with extra funds to help enhance the fitness center,” sophomore yoga instructor Gina Costanzo said. “We are hoping to be able to offer more classes and updated equipment.”
All of the revenue from the fees will go back into improving the Fitness Center and its programs.
“In no way do we profit from any of this,” said junior Fitness Center manager and Zumba instructor Kristina Kondakji. “We use all the money to add to the Fitness Center, including equipment, more hours of operation, space availability and the like. The fitness team wants to really blossom and make a mark in the TCNJ community.”
According to David Muha, the vice president for communication, marketing and brand management, “the College plans to increase the offerings at the center and the additional funds will be used to help support that.”
“A new recreation director will be starting soon, and students should expect to begin to see some of these changes shortly thereafter,” Muha said.
The fees could be barriers to some students enjoying the classes, though, as yet one more cost to college life.
“As a college student, we all try to save money,” sophomore special education major Julia McKinnies said. “Therefore, if I can go exercise on my own for free, I would rather do that than have to pay for classes.”
With all the other financial requirements of which college students have to attend, paying for fitness classes may not be considered a high priority, according to McKinnies.
“I’m sure this will make a lot of people think twice about signing up for these classes,” she said.
Kondakji, however, believes that the new and enhanced program will be a success.
“I think as far as attendance goes, I don’t really think we will be hindered all that much,” Kondakji said. “I have gotten a lot of e-mails from students eager to come down and take classes.”
Students, surprised to hear about the new membership fee, question why this new price was implemented.
“I don’t think its right to now have to pay for classes — something that was originally a free and fun way to stay fit,” sophomore special education major Heather Weinberg said.
Sophomore psychology major Beth Strumpf, a frequent attendee of Fitness Center classes, accepts the new Membership Fee, yet still questions the decision.
“Last semester, I took a lot of classes there and I loved the concept of a free Fitness Center. It was really great coming and going as I wanted,” Strumpf said. “The $20 fee makes sense because of all the new equipment, but I think that my $30,000 tuition should cover that. Especially since once I pay the $20 fee, I’ll feel obligated to go more often and not just when I want to.”
Students express their confusion over the new price adjustment as they wonder where the proceeds go.
“If the funds were going towards paying the instructors (who are students) — that I guess (would make it) not as bad,” sophomore special education major Kelly Springer said.
“I think it’s a bit ridiculous to charge students we are paying to go and use the facilities here already,” Springer said. “It seems a little unnecessary.”
Costanzo understands the student’s initial skepticism about the membership fee and was even originally worried about class attendance. “I was a little concerned at first about the fee affecting how many students will take advantage of the fitness classes at the Rec Center, but I think it may actually encourage more students to come and try different classes since they will want to get their money’s worth.”
Costanzo adds that this membership fee is a low-cost compared to other professional fitness studio classes. Fitness Center Manager Kondakji, too, agrees with Costanzo’s reasoning.
“The system we have is easy too — you just swipe your card and that’s all. No more signing in or the hassle of waiting in a line. I think this will improve the center and pave the way for new beginnings, more bright and potential beginnings.”
“I think that at first people may be a little displeased that they now have to pay to take fitness classes,” Costanzo said. “But hopefully everyone will see that it will actually benefit them by helping to improve the program and enabling us to give students the best fitness experience.”
(09/02/14 4:21pm)
By Gabrielle Beacken
News Assistant
Once seen as the building on campus with quite the history behind it, Holman Hall, now demolished and soon beginning reconstruction, is one part of the College’s new STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) restoration project.
The new building will host the computer science department as well as other “multi-use instructional laboratories and multi-use event space,” according to TCNJ Magazine.
Renovations of Holman Hall, Armstrong Hall, the Chemistry building and the Science Complex are all a part of the College’s new STEM Complex project. According to the College’s Campus Planning webpage, the College presented this new STEM Complex proposal through the Building Our Future Bond Act. The act allows state-issued bonds to become grants for public and private New Jersey universities and colleges to build new academic buildings.
According to an article in The Star-Ledger from March 27, the new STEM project will cost an estimated $94.2 million upon completion. While approximately half the money will be derived from state funds, the College will borrow the other $47.2 million to complete the project.
Upon completion, the STEM building will host the School of Engineering and School of Science. Armstrong Hall, the Chemistry Building and the Science Complex will receive renovations as well, according to the College’s Campus Planning webpage.
The Chemistry Building will receive a $10 million expansion, the Science Complex will receive $18.2 million worth of renovations and Armstrong Hall will receive $15 million worth of renovations, according to The Star-Ledger.
But the rubble from the 87,000 square foot building will not go to waste. Certain materials, such as copper pipes, ductwork, glass railings, steel and metal doors, were extracted from the building before demolition and will be recycled.
“Right now, we expect between 75 percent and 80 percent of the building waste will be recycled,” director of campus construction Bill Rudeau told The Star-Ledger.
Holman Hall has allegedly had its own rich history. According to a Signal article from Nov. 1, 2011, it is campus legend that Holman Hall is buried on top of an “Indian burial ground.” The article references Robert Reeder Green’s book, “The Land Along the Shabakunks,” which details the revolution of the Shabakunks creeks to Ewing and to the College campus.
These chapters of the book claim Holman Hall’s haunted location. According to the article, the description provided in Green’s book coincides with the Lenni-Lenape burial techniques. The article shares that the Lenni-Lenape tribe in fact resided in present day Trenton and Ewing. According to the Trenton Times, Lenni-Lenape artifacts were found in Ewing in 2011.
Still, these suspicious Holman Hall tales have never been verified, but rather kept as one of the College’s notorious stories.
Holman Hall has certainly come a long way: first, haunted, then demolished and, finally, to be renovated. As for now, the first phase of the College’s exciting new STEM Complex is on its way.
(04/19/14 12:24pm)
He doesn’t take any medication. He’s won several gold medals and awards in tennis, and his motto is, “whatever happens, you just have to roll with the punches.” Roger Gentilhomme looks forward to competing in the next National Senior Olympics, as he’s just made the finals in the current Games.
At the next Games, he will be 102 years old.
As a part of Careers in Aging Week, the film, “Age of Champions,” documenting senior citizens participating in the National Senior Olympic athletics games, was presented in Roscoe West on Wednesday, April 9. The event was hosted by nursing assistant professor Connie Kartoz and sophomore nursing major Angela Ning.
“This week is intended to bring greater awareness to career opportunities in the field of aging and aging research,” Ning said. “We hope to garner interest in gerontology around campus.”
The College’s first Careers in Aging Week was held from Sunday, April 6, to Saturday, April 12, and was sponsored by the Gerontological Society of America. The Gerontological Society of America promotes progressive research and education in the Gerontology field. The week also included an interactive career panel on Thursday, April 17, discussing professional opportunities in Gerontology discipline.
“We wanted the movie to inspire people to take charge of their health at any age,” Ning said. “You can always live an active lifestyle, even as an 80-year-old.”
The PBS award-winning documentary, “Age of Champions,” takes its viewers on the journey of five senior citizens athletes training for the National Senior Olympics. The film followed 100-year-old tennis player Roger Gentilhomme, a 70-year-old women’s basketball team, The Tigerettes, brothers Bradford, 88, and John, 90, Tatum swimmers, and track/pole vaulting Earl Blassingame, 88, and Adolph Hoffman, 86.
In the documentary, Roger Gentilhomme proceeded to the final round of tennis in the National Senior Olympics, though he ultimately lost to his 94-year-old opponent whom he referred to as “a youngster.”
The Tigerettes struggled through a difficult final game and ultimately won for the sixth consecutive time on a three-pointer buzzer shot.
“When little kids found out we won nationals, they look at us not as grandmas, but active senior adults,” a Tigerettes player said.
The Tatum brothers lived in a supportive D.C. community their entire lives. As each brother won the gold, they cheered, “Mission accomplished!”
The brothers commented that as children, they were not allowed to swim in the white community pools due to the color of their skin, therefore they swam in the fountain in front of the memorial. Bradford Tatum said it had been an amazing witnessing segregation to experiencing the election of the first black President of the United States.
With Blassingame always finishing in second and Hoffman in first, both men — residents of Texas — have sparked a friendly competition with one another over years.
“Adolph is the best athlete I’ve ever seen,” Blassingame said. “He’s just terrific.”
The film portrayed vibrant and active life possibilities that older adults may have. Careers in Aging Week promotes the professional application of creating new progressive opportunities for older adults.
“We hope to see this grow year by year and for more students to become interested in a possible career in gerontology,” Blassingame said.
(04/08/14 5:23pm)
One grandmother, one uncle and one close family friend (she calls him ‘uncle’) have all been taken away from her because of cancer. Her other grandmother is now currently recovering from chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
Breast cancer, lung cancer and lymphoma cancer are words all too familiar for freshman psychology major Emily Maragni. Maragni relayed for her grandma Babci, uncle Tommy and ‘uncle’ Bobby.
“He had three kids, the youngest 6 years old,” Maragni said on the passing of her uncle. “It took a toll on everyone. It was surprising — he got so sick so quickly. We didn’t expect it.”
Relay for Life, a team-based overnight fundraising walk that includes activities, games, entertainment and more, was held in the Recreation Center on Friday, April 4. Colleges Against Cancer, Student Government and Phi Kappa Psi fraternity sponsored the event.
Each Relay for Life team registered took turns walking throughout the entire night — from the Opening Ceremony with several inspirational speakers at around 8 p.m. to the balloon send off, during which Colleges Against Cancer announced that the event had raised more than $71,000, at 4:30 a.m.
The night began with a Survivors Lap — survivors of cancer led the first lap of the night. Students rose for the survivors and offered them applause and a standing ovation.
The event also consisted of a Luminaria Ceremony that included a slideshow of photographs of those who’ve lost the battle to cancer. The slideshow was followed by “silent lap” around the illuminated track. The track was illuminated by candles in paper bags that students wrote on the names of their family/friends affected by cancer.
After the passing of her uncle, Maragni’s mother formed the family’s first relay team for West Orange High School’s Relay for Life event. Maragni and her family have been participating in Relay for Life for five years now.
“I think it’s a really good cause and it’s important to know how serious cancer is,” Maragni said. “It’s good that people come together to raise money.”
Raising money for cancer research through the American Cancer Society and spreading awareness of the deadly disease were frequent reasons for those who participated in Relay for Life. Many students share stories similar to Maragni’s.
“I want to relay because I’ve had close experiences in my family with cancer,” said a student who chose to remain anonymous. “You don’t really realize how close it is to you. All your loved ones are affected by it.”
The anonymous student relayed for a cousin who was diagnosed with cancer at 17 years old. The student’s cousin is now recovering, but the journey has still been extremely difficult and overwhelming.
“When you have someone in your family that is diagnosed, there is a lot of negative thoughts in the beginning,” the student said. “But there is always hope. The most important thing is to be there for the person.”
The student explained that though his or her cousin wished to be treated normally, the request was challenging.
“Don’t say like, ‘Don’t touch them, don’t do anything!’ They want to feel the normalcy of their life,” the student said. “Of course be there for them, but let them be as independent as possible. Let them have control over certain parts of their life.”
The student’s cousin was involved in several American Cancer Society organizations, such as Camp Can Do. Camp Can Do, sponsored by the American Cancer Society, allowed children diagnosed with caner to have a “normal” and enjoyable summer camp experience, while still having the proper medical attention available.
“A negative experience opens your eyes to how valuable certain things are, what really counts in life — things you often forget,” the student said. “Despite the hardships of the situation, you always have to look for the positive. As hard as it is, you got to look for positive in it. But there is always hope — that is most important.”
Students relayed for the loss of their loved ones, to spread awareness of the negative consequences of cancer and to fundraise money for cancer research, hoping that the fight against cancer will soon end victoriously.
“I feel like if people haven’t experienced Relay, they don’t know how important it is,” Maragni said. “The event gets to you emotionally.”
Maragni urges those who’ve never partaken in Relay for Life to begin participating.
“People should know that they should go to one Relay in their life,” Maragni said. “Once they go to one, they will never want to stop going. It’s an amazing experience.”
(04/01/14 1:39pm)
Not “The Good Seventies,” not even “The Great Seventies,” but rather “The Fabulous Seventies” — a seven-woman basketball team that has competed in several national championships for over 19 years — had their journey, which has been rewarding but difficult at the same time, featured at this year’s Lunafest. The short-film festival by, for and about women was held at the College on Friday, March 28.
With seven 70-something-year-old women competing in the physical sport of competitive basketball, there are bound to be a few obstacles.
These seven inspirational women were featured in the first short-film documentary of the night, “Granny’s Got Game.”
“I miss the camaraderie, I love seeing my friends,” said “The Fabulous Seventies” team player who was forced to watch from the sideline due to the negative effects of her Polio diagnosis as a child. “It’s been the highlight of my life.”
Several organizations on campus helped make the night a success.
“You are sustaining and advancing your community,” said R. Barbara Gitenstein, president of the College, introducing the night’s event. “I’m proud of the students, faculty and staff doing a wonderful job ensuring your wonderful work continues.”
One hundred percent of the proceeds go to the Lunafest’s 2014 local beneficiary, Sage Girl, a non-profit organization that provides girls and women with positive programs in the local community. Out of every dollar raised through Lunafest, 15 percent goes to the Breast Cancer Fund.
Lunafest’s values of celebration, connection and community have reached over 150 cities, according to the Lunafest trailer in the inception of the night. All of the nine films of the night highlight the struggles women face and the strength women build overcoming their obstacles.
“We are thrilled to be a part of this project,” Gitenstein said. “It brings light to issues in this community that affect women.”
Proceeding “Granny’s Got Game” came a Netherlands documentary, “Flying Anne,” depicting the life of 11-year-old Anne, diagnosed with the brain disorder Tourette’s syndrome. Though Anne struggles to fight her impulses of twirling, licking and blinking, she gathers the courage to present a project to her class, explaining her tics and compulsions.
“If I had the choice, I wouldn’t get rid of Tourette’s because I would stop being me,” Anne said.
“Sidewalk,” an animated short film, illustrated the changing body of a woman and the confusion and frustration that accompanies the adjustment. This film in particular, having several funny moments, received many laughs from the audience. The protagonist of the story ultimately finds happiness and peace as she aids a young girl with the journey of her own physical maturation.
A fictional film depicting a young girl’s first co-ed wrestling match, “First Match,” taught the audience the lesson of self-confidence and self-encouragement in unequal-gender environments, such as sports.
“I’m interested in short films,” sophomore communication studies major Gail Schulman said. “I like how athletics are involved — it’s very cool.”
A dominantly black and white sketched short film, “Sound Shadows,” was next.
“Maria of Many” demonstrated the life of Mexican immigrant Maria, a devoted mother, activist and domestic worker. “I don’t want (my daughter) to be like me,” Maria said. “I want her to be better than me.”
Maria’s commitment to her domestic and activism work is to ensure a better future for her daughter.
In the Athens-located short film “Running Dry,” the protagonist begins with constantly switching the radio that essentially states the economic ruin Greece is in. The short film soon switches to a classic black and white silent film, showing the protagonist spare her last dollars to help the members of her community.
The short film finally reverses back to color and sound as she soaks in herself in an in-ground fountain, with the children of Athens playing and splashing beside her.
“Date With Fate” initially begins with a middle-aged man and woman separately filming an online profile for a “matchmaker” type of website. To their extreme displeasure, they are matched on a blind date with one another and speak for the first time in years. The funny banter between the exes had the audience in a comical uproar.
“People say magic happens everywhere, but it has to start somewhere,” said Sam, the protagonist of the last short film “Tiny, Miny, Magic.”
Sam and the mailman begin exchanging small gifts through her mailbox and a romantic relationship seems to blossom.
At the end it is revealed that the mailman in fact likes Sam’s male roommate. Sam tells her roommate about the mailman’s admiration and smiles as he decides to give the relationship a try.
In addition to the nine short films offered through Lunafest, artwork was on display courtesy of the National Art Honor Society at Maple Shade High School and 2008 College alum Jen Braverman.
An additional short film, “The Bechdel Test,” created by sophomore communication studies and interactive multimedia double major Folake Ayiloge, was also shown. The film portrayed the difficulty of passing the Bechdel Test: at least two women on screen talking about something other than men.
As the girls solved their difficulties by writing a script without the discussion of men, the girls tell the audience, “Be conscious of the test, does it (the movie) pass? Next time you are watching a movie, think.”
“There is so much information in such short films,” sophomore communication studies major Becky Corn said. “I really like how it’s just for women. It’s a good cause.”
Women leadership, independence and confidence were certainly prevalent themes of the night.
“We don’t like to lose to anybody, any reason, any time, anywhere,” a “The Fabulous Seventies” team player said. “You got to defend yourself if you don’t somebody else is gonna push you around.”
“If something happens to one,” another “The Fabulous Seventies” player said, “it happens to us all.”
(03/18/14 8:07pm)
The College’s Society for Parliamentary Debate, along with the New Jersey Forensics League, hosted New Jersey’s Forensic League High School Championship at the College’s campus on Friday, March 7, and Saturday, March 8.
The tournament consisted of debate events, specifically set in a high school debating format, for high school students involved in the New Jersey Forensics League. Nearly 700 students deriving from 30 different high schools, all across New Jersey, participated in this championship tournament, according to chief planner of the event, president of the Society for Parliamentary club Andrew Miller.
“This was their state championship, so there was a huge turnout,” said Steven Schwering, sophomore psychology and English double major and publicist for the Society Parliamentary Debate.
High school students began to arrive at the College early Friday afternoon and settled down in the Brower Student Center, where their presence filled up the majority of the building. On Friday, only a few beginner rounds took place. The tournament’s rounds continued into Saturday, with more in- depth and longer rounds.
On Saturday, during the afternoon, the “outrounds” began: octo-quarters, semi-finals and ultimately, the finals. These rounds narrowed down which teams would be participating in the finals. The debate categories consisted of 10 speech categories and three diverse kinds of debate: public forum, Lincoln Douglas and Congress.
“We are really proud of all of our members for giving up their time,” Schwering said. The entire Society for Parliamentary Debate club participated in the event, according to Schwering.
The College’s students helped ensure the success of the tournament through judging and check-ins, to simply lending a spare hand to whenever one was needed.
Not only did the College’s students help out with the State Championship tournament, but the staff of the College helped out as well.
“The staff of TCNJ were a huge help,” Schwering said.
Schwering noted that Yakima Melton, Daytime Assistant Manager of Brower Student Center, was extremely helpful not only during the setup of the event, but during the actual tournament as well.
According to Schwering, the tournament was a great achievement for the club and the event faced few errors.
“We spent over a year preparing for the tournament,” Schwering said. “(We) are really happy with how well the tournament ran.”
(03/04/14 11:13pm)
People’s own expectations of government during natural disasters shapes the kind of response they receive and feel they deserve. However, in many countries, due to low government expectations, minimal and poor natural disaster aid is considered a government success.
Analyzing government responses to natural disasters, based on its citizens own government expectations, Hillel David Soifer, assistant professor of political science at Temple University, illustrated to students divergent government expectations of Latin American countries at the College’s Politics Forum on Thursday, Feb. 27.
“It’s really interesting, Latin America, because it’s the most unequal region in the world — highest level of inequality in the world, but there’s lots of democracies,” Soifer said. “These democracies are a way to keep the international community ‘off your back.’”
People’s expectations of their country’s government affect politics greatly, according to Soifer.
“Expectations affect how people act collectively,” Soifer said. “Not just their individual attitudes about government.”
Soifer discussed four examples of natural disasters in different Latin American countries: Chile’s Chaitèn volcano eruption in 2000, Mexico’s Mexico City earthquake in 1985, Colombia’s Armenia earthquake in 1999 and Peru’s El Niño flood in 1998. The government’s response to the crisis, how people evaluated that response and how politics of the response played over time were, were three key points of Soifer’s lecture.
In southern Chile, lava and ash from a volcanic eruption covered the adjacent town’s river and buildings, ultimately creating an unlivable environment. However, due to a 24-hour notice and government-issued evacuation of the town, only one person suffering from a heart attack was killed.
The Chilean government issued $1,000 and a monthly allowance to the townspeople, while additionally issuing each family $25,000 to resettle in another town. This money was more than a yearly average income, according to Soifer. New institutions, buildings and infrastructure were also created in a location agreed upon by the townspeople.
However, regardless of the government’s total intervention, the townspeople were not pleased. According to Chilean polls shown by Soifer, 63 percent of the people thought the government intervention was “adequate,” while 24 percent thought it was “insufficient.”
The townspeople protested in front of television cameras, holding the Argentinian flag.
“They were so upset with the Chilean government,” Soifer said. “This is a dramatic thing to say.”
Even though government intervention was strong, Chilean’s high expectations were not met.
The Mexico City earthquake affected tens of millions of people and killed 25,000 of them. The Mexican government, after much pressure from its citizens, bought every damaged building, tore it down and built a new one. Since citizens did not want to leave their neighbors, the Mexican government arranged the housing placements to keep the same sense of community.
Within 18 months, the government built 48,000 housing units, according to Soifer.
“I’d be stunned if this much building happened in New Orleans in 18 months,” he said.
Yet, the citizens of Mexico City had high expectations of their government and were not happy.
“They felt like ‘nobody was there to help us,’” Soifer said. “The citizens felt that the government response was confused and ineffective.”
Following these two examples, Soifer’s analysis of Colombia was “very different and a lot sadder.” Columbia’s Armenia earthquake led to 1,200 deaths and a large economic downfall, largely because Armenia is a key coffee-producing region, according to Soifer.
“The government response was an absolute disaster,” Soifer said. “Hundreds (of people) died weeks after because they couldn’t control people looting.”
According to Soifer, Red Cross trucks were driven away from towns by shooter looters. It took three weeks for the government to create a consensus about which towns were affected by the earthquake.
The government set aside $300 million, divided the regions affected by the earthquake, and said to various aid organizations, “here’s your budget, fix it,” according to Soifer. The president held a cabinet meeting in the effect region and then left, Soifer said.
Despite the seemingly weak government intervention, in a poll, 32 percent of Colombians said the government response was “excellent” and 41 percent said it was “pretty good.”
“That’s what people expect from their government,” Soifer said of the polls. “They have low expectations.”
“It was interesting to compare countries and the varying levels of response,” freshman political science major Katherine Wallentine said. “Especially in (countries like) Peru because of the manipulation. People didn’t know what was going on.”
According to Soifer, in order for people to demand high expectations from their government, they have to decide whether living in a democracy or dictatorship is significant.
“We don’t think about natural disasters in political science,” Soifer said. “But I think we should.”
(02/11/14 6:40pm)
Student volunteers are cooking up something good. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich-making competition pit freshman floors against one another in the Travers/Wolfe Main Lounge on Thursday, Feb. 6, with each sandwich made going to benefit the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen. The culinary contest was part of a larger and still ongoing Community Competition.
“It’s the community aspect we’re striving for,” head of Wolfe Hall residence life Marvin Carter said. “We want to get everyone involved and have fun.”
Instead of simply creating sandwiches from an assembly line, students had to pass a series of small tests in order to produce the perfect peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
“We wanted to make it as fun as possible,” community advisor and junior psychology major Nina Balicusto said. “We were brainstorming different ideas.”
The competition consisted of seven teams and five different floors from Wolfe and one from Brewster. Each team had its own sandwich-making table and one team advisor.
The sandwich-making process consisted of three parts. The first team member had to win two games of “rock, paper, scissors, shoot” against their team advisor. After this task was completed, the team member would place two plain slices of bread on the table.
Next, the second team member had to answer a trivia question. The questions ranged from “What is another name for ‘sauce’?” to “From what tree do we get the bean necessary to make chocolate?” Upon completion, the team member would spread peanut butter on one slice.
Upon applying the peanut butter, the third team member entered a brief session of Dance Dance Revolution. Advisors would call out commands, such as “left,” “front,” “right” and “back,” and once all dance moves were performed, the team member would spread the jelly and place the two prepared slices together.
Even after the closing of the competition, students stayed in the lounge to create even more sandwiches, still in the spirit of charity.
“We made sandwiches for the hungry, and that’s the ultimate goal,” freshman open options in Humanities and Social Sciences major Emily Maragni said.
The event proved to be a success with over 150 sandwiches ready to be donated to the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, according to Balicusto.
“It might just be peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, but it’s more than that,” community advisor and junior health and exercise science major Nick Luca said. “Every effort, no matter how big or small, can make a change.”
(02/05/14 12:43am)
Stemming from the College’s study abroad program to Tanzania in the summer of 2013, “Hakuna Kama Mama,” a new photo-voice exhibition illustrating the hardships of women in Zanibar, was held in the AIMM building on Wednesday, Jan. 29. The event was presented by the College’s women’s and gender studies department and was co-sponsored by The Center of Global Engagement and The Association of Students for Africa.
“The purpose of the workshop was to give women an opportunity to discuss issues that truly affect them, such as motherhood and childbirth,” sophomore psychology major Rachel Fikslin said.
Fikslin was one of the 10 students who participated in the study abroad Tanzania program.
This summer program was led by Marla Jaksch, assistant professor of women’s and gender studies, who taught the course “Gender Politics of Development in Tanzania.”
For the Zanzibar International Film Festival, the students in the class created the exhibition “Hakuna Kama Mama,” depicting the topics of motherhood and maternal health.
The exhibition included an array of outlets, such as photos, artworks and discussions. The photo-voice technique, dominantly used in this exhibition, allowed its participants to express their cultural perspectives where they would normally not have the opportunity to do so.
The exhibition included the participation of 120 women of Nungui, Zanzibar — an island and part of Tanzania on the eastern coast of Africa.
Women of Zanzibar captured what motherhood means to them in their presented photographs, Fikslin said.
The study abroad program in Tanzania not only included participation in photo-voice exhibitions, but also included additional unique experiences, according to Fikslin.
The group of 10 students worked as ambassadors with the “WeCare Solar” organization, which is an international organization that specifically works in developing regions to support and ensure the practices of safe motherhood by providing proper light and electricity.
Through “WeCare Solar,” students at the College installed solar power systems in various maternity wards throughout Tanzania. Due to Tanzania’s frequent electricity inconsistency, the infant and maternal mortality rates during childbirth are very high, according to Fikslin.
“Our solar project made a difference in several communities and also allowed us to collaborate and connect with Tanzanian organizations with the same goals in mind,” Fikslin said.
Tanzania study abroad will again take place this coming year and will include unique aspects such as education, culture and new solar projects.
“Studying abroad in Tanzania was a life-changing experience that made me see the world in a whole new way,” Fikslin said. “It made me realize that things like love and motherhood are universal to all humans, but the way we experience them are completely different across cultures.”
Enrollment for this summer program is still open and ready for students with a desire to help in developing regions.
(01/28/14 10:59pm)
“Say Something Assembly,” depicting human trafficking as modern-day slavery to students, was presented by The New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, the Division of Criminal Justice, New Jersey Human Trafficking Task Force and Free International at Roscoe West Hall on Thursday, Jan. 23. The event aimed to spread awareness regarding the ubiquity of human trafficking in the United States.
Because New Jersey is hosting Super Bowl XLVIII, the Division of Criminal Justice and the New Jersey Human Trafficking Task Force believe that this will result in an increase in human trafficking in New Jersey.
“The facts are there,” said Lowell Hochhalter, one of the directors of Free International, a faith-based nonprofit organization. “There is an uptaking in trafficking during the Super Bowl.”
“This is not a flash in a pan,” said Deborah R. Edwards, Counsel to the New Jersey Attorney General. “This is not just about the Super Bowl. We have to figure out ways to help save somebody’s life.”
With an intricate strategy, including training, education and outreach programs, New Jersey government considers the fight against human trafficking a sustainable effort, Edwards explained.
According to Edwards, New Jersey’s anti-human trafficking laws received the letter grade “D” in 2013. However, this year, New Jersey received the letter grade “A” for their new strong anti-human trafficking legislation.
The program not only included remarks from the Counsel to the New Jersey Attorney General, but also included lectures from Free International representatives and several videos detailing the initialization of human trafficking.
“Human trafficking is not a political issue, it is a human being issue,” Hochhalter said. “What part will I play in human trafficking?”
Free International directors Terrence Talley and Jeff Devoll detailed the “red flags” of human trafficking. Since a majority of human trafficking victims are women, according to Free International, one should be attentive to young women with specific “warning signs.”
Warning signs include signs of physical abuse, a much older boyfriend, multiple cell phones or hotel cards, not being able to come and go as they please and more, Talley said.
“One should speak up and say, ‘What’s going on? Why can’t you go?’” Talley said.
Young and vulnerable girls are taken advantage of by pimps who come in and pose as boyfriends, Devoll detailed. High schools, middle schools and shopping malls are the most popular spots for human trafficking recruitment, according to Free International.
“There is a misconception that it’s not our own sons and daughters,” Hochhalter said. “100 percent of all of them are somebody’s sons and daughters.”
According to Free International, human trafficking is a $32 billion industry. This is greater than the sum of Nike, Starbucks and Google industries combined.
Tekla Roberts, survivor of human trafficking and founder and executive director of Vashti’s Voice, an organization empowering young women of sexual exploitation and abuse, shared her personal story with the student audience.
“‘Say Something’ is huge,” Roberts said. “When you know better, you do better. Change the community.”
Students agreed that “Say Something Assembly” was helpful and useful, but word of the event was not spread enough across campus.
“This was really informative,” freshman criminology major Lucia Menyou said. “It should have been more advertised.”
Freshman international studies major Lauren Plawker added that, though the event helped inform students about the details of human trafficking, more students should have been conscious of the event.
“We know that it happens, but we don’t know (to) what extent it happens,” Plawker said.
Speaking out and bringing awareness to the public can stop human trafficking.
“Facts are facts, it is what it is,” Hochhalter said. “Modern-day slavery can come to an end in our own lifetime.”
Edwards assured the students that the New Jersey Attorney General Office is creating stronger anti-trafficking legislation and taking sturdier actions to prevent human trafficking.
“New Jersey is on it,” he said.
(01/21/14 5:26pm)
Over winter break, the College’s Society for Parliamentary Debate competed in an international debating tournament, World Universities Debating Championship, held in Chennai, India.
Fivemembers of the debate team were sent to compete in India: four competitors, Zachary Ellis, Prashanth Palvannan, Arjun Gupta and Society president Andrew Miller, and one judge, Zachary Myshkoff.
“All five of them are extremely active members in (the Society) and are fantastic debaters,” sophomore psychology and English double major and publicist for the Society Steven Schwering said.
According to Schwering, “Worlds is the culmination of years of work for our most experienced debaters.” To properly prepare for the club’s most prestigious tournament, the debate team conducts fundraisers and activities as well as hosting debates on campus for high school tournaments.
“People come from all over, and it’s so interesting to see how much we have in common while things differ around the world,” junior biology major Gupta said.
The World Universities Debating Championship is an international parliamentary-style debate tournament that takes place in a different country every year. For 33 years, “Worlds,” as it is known in the debating society, has traveled across North America, Europe, Asia and Africa. However, this year is the first time that it has taken home to South Asia.
“Worlds” is the world’s largest debating tournament and the largest annual international student events in the world, according to the “Worlds” website.
The Society for Parliamentary Debate has been sending competitors to the renowned competition for three years.
“Our team sends people to the Worlds University Debating Championship because it is a great opportunity to see other debaters from across the globe and to see some of the finest debating possible,” Schwering said. “I know from participants’ experiences that everyone enjoys the opportunity very much.”
The Society chooses who competes in the “Worlds” competition through a specific formula that factors in debate victories from previous competitions and popular vote.
The “Worlds” competition includes over 1,000 students from universities around the world and consists of nine preliminary rounds. With the conclusion of these rounds, the top 48 teams enter single elimination rounds. This year, the tournament lasted from Thursday, Dec. 26, to Thursday, Jan. 9.
“Unfortunately, neither of our teams broke,” junior political science major Myshkoff said. “But both teams did well and put forth solid performances.”
Though the Society competitors did not proceed into the single elimination rounds, the experience in India was a positive one.
“Overall, the experience is amazing, mostly because of the awesome people you meet while competing,” Gupta said.
Topics in the parliamentary debate included economics, social topics, public policy and more.
“The issues we debate about like politics, society, morals etc. are things that everyone deals with, but everyone’s experiences with those (topics) differ,” Gupta said. “It shapes the way people look at the world, and it’s incredibly fascinating to debate with such a global perspective.”
(12/03/13 11:41pm)
David Frost, psychologist and assistant professor of population and public health at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, spoke to students about the effects of closeness concerning the health of heterosexual relationships on Thursday, Nov. 21, in the Social Sciences building.
Before Frost began his heterosexual relationship closeness studies, he studied stigma and discrimination, specifically concerning LGBTQ discrimination. Through studying same-sex relationships, Frost continued onto the study of heterosexual relationships.
“We all have notions about what we think a healthy relationship is,” Frost said.
Psychologists often associate closeness to healthy relationships, Frost said. However, this is not necessarily true. Frost discussed closeness discrepancies in romantic relationships and their effect on relational, sexual and mental health.
In a relationship, closeness is an inclusion of the other in oneself, Frost said. It is a form of self-expansion. Individuals in a romantic relationship expand through forms of cognition and experimentation. However, closeness is not an absolute, Frost said.
“We have people in psych interested in romantic relationships,” assistant psychology professor Shaun Wiley said. “We have a romantic relationship lab. It’s an important area of psychology.”
“Everyone wants different things out of a relationship,” Frost added.
The significant point of the lecture was stressed by the term “closeness discrepancies.” These discrepancies are created based on an individual’s ideal versus actual closeness level. There can be the positive discrepancies, meaning there is too much closeness in a relationship, Frost said. An indicator of positive discrepancies is an individual’s need of personal space, wanting to spend more time with friends, fear of losing oneself and feeling the threat of their own independence.
Just as there are positive discrepancies of too much closeness, there are also negative discrepancies, meaning not enough closeness, Frost said. Indicators of negative discrepancies are lack of intimacy, different priorities and perspectives from a partner and sometimes even health problems distances couples. If an individual’s ideal relationship is that of a close one, but is experiencing distance and lack of intimacy from their partner, they are experiencing negative discrepancies, Frost said.
Many couples experience no discrepancies. These couples experience a healthier and more satisfied relationship. Indicators of no discrepancies are balances of closeness and independence, shared goals and purposes, perceived and provided support and effective communication. Closeness discrepancies will be regularly associated with relational well-being and mental health outcomes, Frost said.
“It’s not just how close you are, but (also) where the closeness matches your ideal in that moment,” Frost said.
This theory is expressed through two studies presented by Frost. The first is a study of individuals in a relationship over three years. The study was mostly female, and only 38 percent of the original participants were retained during the three-year time period.
Individuals compared their ideal relational closeness to their actual closeness, thus creating positive, negative or zero discrepancies.
“It’s not like the sitcoms with the male character being smothered by his overly close girlfriend,” Frost said.
Closeness discrepancies reported by males and females were very similar. Relationships with discrepancies had a higher chance of a dissolution relationship, Frost said. No discrepancies indicated a healthy and satisfied relationship.
“Closeness matters, but closeness discrepancies may matter more,” Frost said.
The second study was tested on both individuals of a relationship, regardless of gender, instead of one individual of a relationship. Through random addressed-based sampling, the study focused on 103 older couples with longer relationships. This study defined relational well being intro three categories: relationship satisfaction, sexual satisfaction and dissolution thought.
“This is an interesting proxy for commitment levels,” Frost said, concerning the category of dissolution thought.
The research indicated that closeness discrepancies affect the other partner.
“Closeness matters only at an individual level,” Frost said. “But closeness discrepancies matter more and individual and partner level.”
There are multiple moving parts, Frost said. Actual and ideal closeness in a relationship may change.
“I found it really interesting,” senior psychology major Christina Hermann said. “It’s nice to have researchers brought in who discuss subjects relevant to all students, not just psychology majors.”
“It’s nice to come and talk to students,” Frost said. “Relationship closeness is something college students can relate to.”
(11/19/13 5:46pm)
The second annual “Dining Out in Professional Style” event was held last Wednesday, Nov. 13, featuring renowned business etiquette expert Robert A. Shutt and sponsored by the Career Center.
“This is important because it eliminates distraction of inappropriate behavior,” Shutt said regarding professional dining etiquette.
People may not notice appropriate behavior much, but they certainly realize when inappropriate behavior is being conducted, according to Shutt.
With over 200 students in attendance, each one of the 31 round tables was filled with students and one employer. These employers were representatives of companies such as Johnson & Johnson, Mondel?z International and New Jersey State Nursing Association.
“As professionals, I think we were expected to know a lot about this,” said Bernie Nicholas, an employer representing Mondel?z International. “But I certainly learned a lot.”
Both Nicholas and his co-representative, Larry Osman, expressed the significant value students are receiving from this presentation. The point of mixing students and employers was to make connections and relationships.
“Shake the hand of someone who could potentially change your life forever,” Shutt said. “Work the room.”
The purpose of the event, Shutt said, was to create new relationships and strengthen existing ones. Shutt has traveled throughout the United States, teaching adults and students the proper etiquette of professional dining.
Shutt began by explaining the different focuses between business etiquette and social etiquette. The social focus was to have “good times and good foods.”
“Comradery and cuisine,” Shutt said. “A business meal may have an impact on your future.”
Etiquette dining dates back to the years of George Washington, when he created the “102 Rules of Civility.” Shutt emphasized two rules from Washington’s list: one, sit not when others stand, and, two, sleep not when others speak. Shutt revised the latter to “sleep not, text not, Blackberry not.”
“Business evaluation starts 15 minutes before you think it’s going to occur,” Shutt said.
In professional business dining, one follows the leader of the group.
Shutt then explained the controversial debate over the styles of eating with a fork and knife. There is the American Style, the knife in the dominant hand, fork in other, and when eating the food one switches the fork in the other hand. Then there is the Continental Style, which requires no switch of the hand. Knives should always be placed with the sharp side facing away from guests at the table.
“(Otherwise), it is too aggressive,” Shutt said.
Even advice on how to stop the flow of a spilt drink was given during the event.
“I learned little things about etiquette,” freshman communication studies major Megan Strucko said.
The one who organizes the meal pays, said Shutt.
“When done, say ‘thank you’ times two,” Shutt said. “One for the conversation and one for the meal.”
Retention increases 500 percent when a letter is in one’s hand, not just electronically. Therefore, Shutt suggests the best way to say “thank you” is a good old-fashioned handwritten letter.
“This is a wonderful program and it is a privilege to be here with you all,” Shutt said.
When he was later asked if he wished to make a final comment, he said with a smile and index finger pointed, “Manner matters and courtesy counts.”
(11/12/13 5:23pm)
The College’s Society for Parliamentary Debate club held its first of three high school forensics league tournaments on Saturday, Nov. 2 in buildings across campus.
The tournaments are a significant fundraising opportunity for the club.
“It’s a great fundraiser for us,” junior physics major and president of the club Andrew Miller said. “The fundraiser is for transportation to our U.S. tournaments.”
Transportation costs and minor expenses, such as food at meetings, are not included in the club’s budget, directed and organized by the Student Finance Board, Miller said. With help from their coaches, the Society for Parliamentary debate planned the entire event.
“(The event) is going pretty well,” Miller said. “We’ve seen a lot of talented people.”
The club hopes that by facilitating tournaments for high school students, many students will apply to the College and join the Society for Parliamentary Debate club.
Thirteen different high schools from New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania competed in the event-filled day, participating in three different categories: Public Forum, Lincoln-Douglas and Congregational Debate.
There were four rounds to every category, thus creating a chaotic day of judging and scoring.
Three judges, one or two being club members, judged the high school students’ arguments based on logic and speech presentation.
Regardless of who won, the debaters received points that combined scores with other members from their schools.
Not only did the winners of the final round receive awards, but high schools were also presented awards based on their final number of points.
In the semifinal round of the Lincoln-Douglas debate, two students disputed over the extent of attorney-client privilege in the process of prosecution.
Before each student presented his or her case during the debate, the speaking student politely asked the judges and opponent if they were ready.
After this confirmation, students received three to six minutes to express any evidence of their arguments or counterarguments. Those minutes were filled with no pauses. It was a nonstop run of information.
As the timer beeped, indicating the end of the time slot, attendees saw judges and students alike exhale with relief.
Though each student presented their argument passionately, the negative side was declared the winner.
The affirmative and negative sides are chosen at random before every meet.
Any student participating in this debate subject needed to know the topic inside-out.
“That’s why it’s so hard,” sophomore biology major Farrah Liu said. “You have to train your mind not to be biased because it will be a lot harder to debate the other side.”
The debate allowed students to gain confidence in public speaking and helped them organize relevant information to present in a clear argument.
“The goal of today is to facilitate debate in high school debating leagues,” Miller said. “I think the day (was) a success.”
(11/06/13 8:49pm)
The College’s Gamma Chapter of the Latin fraternity Lambda Theta Phi hosted Hispanic College Day on Wednesday, Oct. 23, providing information sessions and campus tours to local high school seniors and discussing achieving goals with them.
Hispanic College Day was created and initiated at the College in 1980 by co-founder of the Gamma chapter of Lambda Theta Phi, Jose Maldonado. Since the founding, Lambda Theta Phi’s 94 chapters nationwide have adapted their own version of Hispanic College Day.
Barry Vasquez, ’90 Lambda Theta Pi alumnus, commented on the goals of Hispanic College Day, and said, “(It’s important) to let them see something greater than themselves (and) to give opportunities to urban communities.”
Alumni enjoy coming back to the College for Hispanic College Day, Vasquez said, because it has become such an important event.
The agenda of Hispanic College Day involved four workshops: “Goal Setting,” “The Keys to College Knowledge,” “The College Application Process” and “Student Leaders Panel.”
The workshop “Goal Settings” was hosted by Leadership Development Program leaders Laura Alshamie, junior sociology and women’s and gender studies double major, and Matthew Rusay, senior statistics major. Rusay and Alshamie began the course by involving the students in a simple exercise. Students were asked to point somewhere and reach as far as they could. The students repeated this exercise, reaching farther back each time. The LDP leaders explained that with a goal, you can accomplish more than you thought you could.
LDP leaders inquired about the goals of the student group. One student spoke of short-term goals, such as gradating high school, and long-term goals of graduating medical school and creating a better life for himself.
“College is a return on investment,” Rusay said, commenting on the expense of college. “It helps you a lot going forward.” Rusay also said that according to researched statistics, college graduates tend to earn 50 percent more in their career than a non-college graduate.
The two LDP leaders continued with two activities. The first, having the students write a small feature article about when they have achieved all of their goals, was to prove how motivating goals can be when physically written down on paper. The second was asking the students what they would do if they won $21 million in the lottery. Instead of buying Ferraris and mansions, students spoke of install payments and creating charitable foundations. The LDP leaders noted that the students were “bright.”
Rusay ended the session quoting NHL player Wayne Gretzky. “You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take,” he said.
The Student Leaders Panel consisted of three Lambda Theta Phi members: Arturo Morillo, sophomore chemistry major and president of the College’s Gamma chapter of Lambda Theta Phi; Angel Lugo, junior biology and psychology double major; Seiichi Villalona, senior biology and cultural anthropology double major, and two fraternity alumni, Reinario Reyes, ’12, and Barry Vasquez, ’90.
“Our goal is to show underrepresented and underprivileged communities,” Lugo said.
Students were able to ask various college-related questions from pre-med requisites, to the details of the EOF (Educational Opportunity Fund) program, to jobs on campus. A topic that often surfaced was on-campus jobs. Though the fraternity brothers depicted various jobs on campus, Villalona reminded the students that “college is a full-time job.”
“(You) want to do something that you’re really interested in,” Morillo said. “Something you really want.” Liking your classes will make the classes easier, Morillo said.
Lambda Theta Phi brothers also offered advice to the high school students about getting involved on campus and enhancing résumés.
“There are so many different clubs and organizations that helped me grow into a person,” Reyes said. “I became a leader in things. Now I can speak in front of people.” Reyes and the other fraternity brothers elaborated on the many career-oriented programs the College has to offer.
“Our message is to try to help the students want to achieve higher education,” Morillo said. “We explain to them why they should go to college — to better themselves.”
(10/22/13 3:14pm)
LGBT activist and co-editor of “Getting Bi: Voices of Bisexuals Around the World,” Robyn Ochs, presented “Beyond Binaries: Identity and Sexuality,” discussing sexual orientation identity at PRISM’s event on Thursday, Oct. 18.
“I invite you on a journey of a landscape of identity,” Ochs said, starting off the night. “A landscape of sexual orientation identity.”
Ochs discussed how human beings like to map, organize and classify people into categories. There is a really big difference, Ochs said, between how people identify themselves and how other people read them.
Ochs noted how all people have many different identities.
“Intersectionality: the idea that identity is complicated and identity is a journey,” Ochs said. Everyone has different identities that relate and intertwine with one another, such as race, religion, gender, age and more. Experiences in one of those categories affects experience in another category, Ochs explained.
Each audience member was given a purple sheet of paper, illustrating various charts and scales created by sexology researchers Alfred Kinsey and Fritz Klein. As an introduction to her own experiment later on in the evening, Ochs provided the audience with a brief history lesson about the continuum spectrum of sexual orientation.
Kinsey conducted the first large-scale, all-male sexuality study in the 1940s, interviewing over 6,000 men. Kinsey found through his research that 10 percent of the male population is homosexual. Homosexuality, however, ranged through an entire spectrum of sexuality, Kinsey discovered. Utilizing the numbers zero — exclusively heterosexual — to six — exclusively homosexual — Kinsey created “The Kinsey Scale,” illustrating the range of sexuality.
Klein approached the sexuality continuum a little differently. Instead of a line scale, Klein created two axes with the variables past, present and ideal in the x-axis, and sexual behaviors such as attraction, lifestyle and emotional preference in the y-axis.
“Kinsey and Klein made the assumption of the gender binary,” Ochs said, criticizing elements of the researchers’ work. “I do not use the words ‘opposite sex.’ It reinforces the binary.” Those words put things in opposition, Ochs said. It exaggerates differences of male and female, when they are actually just a variation of the same theme.
Ochs also stressed the significant difference between the words “gender” and “sex.”
“They are not interchangeable words,” Ochs said, as gender means “man” or “woman,” and sex means “male” or “female.” Ochs noted that gender means the actual understanding of what it means to be a man or a woman. Sex is our physical and biological characteristics that define us as male or female.
The majority of the event was an interactive portion that consisted of each person filling out an anonymous Kinsey-Klein questionnaire. Each member of the audience assigned a number zero to six, using the Kinsey scale, to questions such as emotional, romantic, attraction, fantasies and more before the age of 16, during 2012 and in the past month. These sheets were then shuffled and randomly assigned to different audience members.
Ochs placed the numbers zero to six in a rainbow shape around the room. Question by question, audience members stood by the answered numbers on their sheet. The answers provided by the audience displayed that there is always a spectrum, always a wide range. The audience never solely stood by the numbers zero and six, rather members were constantly scattered across the spectrum.
After the experiment was presented and Ochs shared her own life story, each audience member said what he or she had learned in the presentation.
“I thought this was just going to be on sexuality, but it was about spectrum,” sophomore biology major Hailey Marr said. “It was very eye opening.”
Ochs emphasized that human beings are incredibly complicated on so many levels.
“None of us can be defined by a single word,” Ochs said. “We are all stories.”
(10/15/13 3:10pm)
Students and deans discussed whether American colleges and universities should be prohibited from instituting satellite campuses in countries that do not respect freedom of speech during a special “Debate the Deans” event that took place Wednesday, Oct. 9 in the Library Auditorium
“Debate the Deans” was originally started by Benjamin Rifkin, the dean of Humanities and Social Sciences, who was one of the two deans participating in the debate.
“The purpose is to help build interest in debate on campus and at the same time to help build community,” Rifkin said.
Rifkin, along with William Keep, the dean of the School of Business, supported the prohibition of satellite campuses in freedom of speech countries, which they do not have. The pro-side consisted of two members from the Society for Parliamentary Debate: junior biology major Prashanth Palvannan and junior physics major Andrew Miller.
Rifkin thanked Keep for his participation, as well as the Society for Parliamentary Debate and the audience, and began the night presenting his “against” side.
Rifkin noted that this debate was not merely talking about legal declaration, but actual practice.
Two of the Dean’s main points were that not only does building satellite campuses take away money and resources from the home campus, but it also impedes on the education of students enrolled due to its oppression of tyranny.
“Tyranny can coerce curriculum concession,” Rifkin said.
Tyrannical influences the kinds of professors staffed, students enrolled and subjects taught. Keep later mentioned, “Sexuality, religion and politics become off-limit topics.”
The “against” side made it clear that while they do support students traveling or studying abroad, high capital costs of satellite campuses would hinder students enrolled in American university’s education quality.
Palvannan, on the “pro” side, argued that satellite campuses, providing education for youth, would create agents of change in oppressive regions.
“Universities are inherently liberal in nature,” Palvannan said. “They offer and accept discourse.” These intellectual discussions, Palvannan said, will lead to progressive reform in the oppressed region.
“Regardless of where they are born or governed, they are born under the right to education,” Palvannan said.
Palvannan said satellite campuses will allow oppressed individuals to not become prisoners of their birthplace.
“Influencing youth of the region can have long term change,” Palvannan said.
Satellite campuses can provide progressive activities such as student government or student newspapers, according to Palvannan. Rifkin later said the notion of these campuses having these extracurricular activities is “absurd.”
Miller argued that nations want to keep educated individuals within their country.
“Satellite campuses allows students to be educated in their home environment, so they can change their home environment,” Miller said.
Disputing the Dean’s worry about censorship on these campuses, Miller noted that since satellite campuses are not financed by any local or state government, government censorship would not be an issue.
“The host country is resistant to change,” Keep said, supporting his opposition stance. “They do not want advocates or agents of change.”
Therefore, host countries would not be supportive of this type of liberal learning. Keep also noted that anti-freedom laws in oppressive countries are reinforced. Consequently, students practicing liberal education would suffer the appropriate punishment.
“Education does not automatically lead to progressive freedoms. That is an assumption,” Keep said.
Keep supported his theory by referring to Thomas Jefferson’s original view of the French Revolution. What began as a fight for freedoms in France, however, became the devastating Reign of Terror.
“I am the only one here who has lived, studied and worked in a totalitarian society,” Rifkin said in the last round. “It’s not just freedom of speech, but freedom after speech.”
After each team presented their opposing final arguments, no hard feelings seemed to be present, as the students were declared the winners. The four debaters posed for a picture together, side-by-side.
“Regardless of the content of our remarks, the important point of the evening is that we came together to discuss an important issue and enjoyed the process of analytical argument,” Rifkin said. “This is, after all, the heart of the College’s mission: academic freedom, critical thinking and intellectual inquiry.”
(10/08/13 4:25pm)
Compassion was the key word of the night during the screening of the documentary “Happy” in the Library Auditorium on Thursday, Oct. 3, sponsored by the TCNJ Circle of Compassion.
“We wanted something that could apply to college students, not too heavy,” said senior biology major Maria Mostyka, vice president of the TCNJ Circle of Compassion club. “The goal of the Circle of Compassion club is to promote compassion and thought into action.”
The film took its audience around the world to explore the different definitions of what it means to be happy. From a slum in India, to a housing community in Denmark, to a former debutante’s home in Texas, “Happy” portrayed the value of pursuing intrinsic pleasure in order to be happy, rather than cherishing materialistic extrinsic gratifications.
“I feel I am not poor, but the richest person,” said a rickshaw driver with little financial stability during a scene in Kolkata, India, as his child ran toward him with excitement at the end of every work day.
This intrinsic happiness was the documentary’s introduction to the progressive field of positive psychology. Statistics shown in the movie indicated that Americans are becoming richer, but not happier.
Research done by psychologists in the film recognized that there are three dominant structures of happiness: 10 percent class and status, 50 percent genetics and 40 percent intentional activities.
This means that individuals have a major role in being able to create their own happiness.
“Happiness manifests a lot in our relations,” said junior psychology major Amanda Fresnics, member of the Circle of Compassion club. “Humans crave bonding and connections.”
“Coming away to college, you are constantly surrounded by people. Why isn’t it like that all the time?” Fresnics said, concerning the high success rate of the community living in Denmark.
This theory of the human connection leading to happiness is supported by the newfound Japanese word depicted in the film, “Kar?shi.” In Japanese, this word translates into “death from overwork.” Kar?shi is a recent trend in the Japanese work environment.
“There needs to be a balance of work and play,” said Mostyka, opening up the discussion portion of the event. “I always used to study on my own, but now I study in groups. Little things as helping each other understand something makes you so much more content.”
Mostyka, vice president of the Circle of Compassion club, explained how the club’s task is to shift the mindset of students on happiness.
“Compassion is important for a full and successful life,” Mostyka said. “Especially for college students.”