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(09/17/13 5:00am)
As freshmen have consistently been dominating races for the men’s cross country team, it is the veterans who are carrying the women’s team to glory.
Up against 17 teams, the women’s team took second at the Annual Roadrunner XC Invitational, falling short of first place by just one point.
With a valiant effort by senior Megan Flynn, who led the lion pack, the College occupied three of the top 10 spots in the run at Garrett Mountain. Flynn clocked in with the second-fastest time, 24:06.2, in a field of 194 total competitors.
“(The meet) was awesome,” Flynn said. “The team as a whole did really well, too. We got second place as a team and beat all of the teams that were there from the NJAC, which was the main competition that we are going to compete against at the NJAC championships, so we were all pretty excited about that.”
Flynn was followed by excellent efforts from junior Tara Nealon, who finished eighth with a time of 24:24.2, and senior Anginelle Alabanza, who finished just behind in ninth at 24:40.6.
“We definitely want to win NJACS as a team and then qualify for the national meet as well,” Flynn said, expressing her desire for team success over individual accomplishments.
On the men’s side, the freshmen continue to dominate. Andrew Tedeschi ran another outstanding race in 27:18.5, taking seventh in a field of 129 runners.
He was accompanied in the top 10 by freshman Alex Cary, who placed 10th after running 27:38.2, with teammate Brandon Mazzarella not far behind in 13th.
Despite the large differnce between running in high school and running at the College, the freshmen have been able to put in big performances for the team.
“It’s definitely a big transition from high school,” Cary said. “I’m running a lot more than I ever used to in practice and we really don’t get much of a break.”
Cary explained that in high school he only raced 5K, and the meet was the first time he had ever had to race a distance farther than that.
“I didn’t really have much of a strategy going in,” Cary said. “I decided I would stick behind a few guys on the team who had generally been a little faster than me and see how long I could keep that up. I got through three miles and felt good, so I just moved up from there. I actually didn’t realize I finished so close to the top pack until after the race.”
The Lions will continue their season at the Dickinson Long/Short Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 28, at Big Spring High School in Newville, Pa.
(09/10/13 5:00am)
The College Union Board made its mark in this week’s Student Finance Board meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 4, presenting four special appropriation requests in hopes of receiving funding.
Heated discussion hit SFB during conversation of CUB’s request for funding of “TCNJ Glow,” a version of “Life in Color: Day Glow” for the College.
“I’m concerned about the risk,” student government representative Tom Verga said. “With this event, we’re putting students at risk.”
Several members of SFB were concerned about the details of this event as the word “rave” is often associated with alcohol and drugs. However, a motion to zero-fund passed by a vote of 7-6.
“I’m not ready to fund it,” sophomore representative Tom Athan said. “But I think it has a whole lot of potential.”
The event was tabled indefinitely by SFB, giving CUB the opportunity to come back with a better proposal.
However, with a split vote, CUB allocated funding for $28,648 to go toward their annual fall lecture with the options of Josh Radnor, Zach Braff and Kenan Thompson. The motion passed despite certain members agreeing with senior representative Sam Hoffer who felt that “this is an absurd amount of money.”
But that wasn’t all for the club on campus. Presenting for “A Night of Comedy With The Lampshades and Mixed Signals,” CUB allocated funding for $7,648.
“This really irks me because we already gave them money for a comedy show in the fall and they have one in the spring,” Hoffer said.
However, senior representative Liz Kamel felt that “they have great people coming and it’s a night of good, clean fun.”
The only unanimous vote of the day went to CUB’s event of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” featuring TMT.
(09/10/13 5:00am)
I had a different internship experience this summer that truly validated my desire to be a journalist. I interned this summer at Metro in downtown New York City as a features reporter. Internship cartoon
Sure, the paper isn’t The Philadelphia Inquirer, but it’s a free daily newspaper that has a widespread distribution in NYC, Boston and Philadelphia. It taught me how a real newsroom is run, how to conduct myself as a professional reporter and several valuable skills regarding my intended field from an extremely supportive staff.
I loved the pressure of receiving five different article assignments at once and learning how to prioritize my stories and consult with publicists to conduct interviews. Although there was not a day where I did not have an article, an interview or a webpost to write up, I never found myself hating being bombarded by work, but rather loved the feeling of working hard, being productive and seeing my byline published in print.
I had the enjoyable opportunities to interview a variety of authors, travel to midtown to interview Ashanti on the red carpet, and attend a press conference with Selena Gomez and Ethan Hawke. Of course, in order to do these things, I had to commute to the city using public transportation and often had several subway trips uptown for interviews. However, as a person prone to motion and car sickness, the commute actually didn’t bother me very much, because I was getting a great experience. Yes, it was rough spending money for commute with no salary coming in and trips were boring and uncomfortable, but this was an investment worth taking for my future career. In addition, I really found value in learning how to commute and understand the subway systems to independently get around the city successfully.
I had an extremely positive experience interning this summer. I was able to look past the annoyances by really valuing the opportunities and skills it provided me, which will definitely be beneficial toward my goal of becoming a reporter — a goal that was seriously affirmed in my mind after my internship this summer.
(09/04/13 6:09am)
Although experience tends to be the main factor to success, sometimes it’s the freshmen with the most drive. For the Lions’ men’s cross country team, it was freshman Andrew Tedeschi who took the 10th fastest time in his first ever collegiate event at the annual Blue/Gold Classic on Saturday, Aug. 29 for the Lions.
Tedeschi crossed the line at 16:09:40, pacing 5:12 per mile.
“Going into the race, I was hoping to just get top five for the Blue team,” Tedeschi said. “But once the race started, I felt really good and thought I could do some damage.”
Although Tedeschi picked up his pace and began passing people, he had no idea he made the top 10 until later that night, thinking he placed around 25th with the gifted talent he was racing against.
“It was a great race to start off my collegiate career,” he said. “But there is still a lot of work to do.”
Freshmen Kevin Scott and Brandon Mazzarella also proved themselves taking the 12th and 13th spots, finishing just behind senior Dominic Tasco, who took 11th with a time of 16:11:14 to start off his season.
But on the women’s side it was a veteran with an impressive showcase as junior Tara Nealon finished third out of 38 runners in the 5K event with a time of 19:15:61.
Working hard all summer, Nealon simply said, “It feels good knowing that I didn’t wake up early almost every day in the summer to run for nothing.”
Her teammates weren’t far behind as they represented the women’s Lions well, with seniors Sarah Polansky and Anginelle Alabanza finishing in the top 10 and junior Jillian Manzo following suit in the 11th spot.
(04/30/13 4:11pm)
As the spring semester winds down, programming for the fall semester has wound up as the College Union Board was funded for two high volume requests by the Student Finance Board on Wednesday, April 24.
CUB was funded for $67,810 to hold the Fall Concert in hopes of getting Grouplove and Mayday Parade to come to the College. The tickets will cost $10 each for students and the concert is set to be held in the Recreation Center. Other group choices for the concert include Panic! At the Disco, Icona Pop, Tegan and Sara and the Wonder Years.
In addition, CUB was funded for $48,440 to be used toward the Fall Comedy Show in hopes of getting comedian, Aziz Ansari with John Mulaney or Mike Birbiglia. If those options don’t work out, CUB hopes to get one of their alternate options: Jay Pharaoh, B.J. Novak, Patton Oswalt or Fred Armisen.
Disagreement arose during a discussion in which members were not in favor of the increased ticket cost from $5 to $10 for students, assuming CUB gets their top choices.
“I still think the talent justifies the adjusted cost,” freshman representative Tom Athan said.
SFB funded the event by a split vote. In addition, SFB allocated $11,876.99 to the Leadership Development Program for their Fall Leadership Retreat. It will be free to all students and will hold workshops and campfire activities at Camp Green Lake.
“This is one of those awesomely, cheesy events that I would want to go to,” junior representative Kevin Garoian said.
The retreat is set to take place on Friday, Oct. 4 and Saturday, October 5.
Following, Synergy Dance Co. was allocated $7,500 to bring the Philadanco Master Class and Performance to the College on Friday, Sept. 20.
During discussion, members were concerned about hosting a “master class” for the College.
“I think that ‘master’ (class) is kind of intimidating to people,” junior representative Samantha Hoffer said. “I feel like it’s gonna be all Synergy.”
However, operations director Milana Lazareva rebutted and said, “For a beginner dancer, it will be a really good opportunity to train with professional dancers.”
Executive director Lindsay Klein agreed, adding that the campus is home to several other dance groups. SFB’s advisor Tim Asher also clarified that master classes used to be a regular part of the College’s “celebration of the arts” before financial issues.
The event was passed with the stipulation to open up sign-ups for the master class to give every student equal opportunities of attending the 90-minute class of 30 people. It will be co-sponsored by the School of Arts and Communications, which is contributing $11,000 to the event.
Finally, CUB was zero-funded for a bus trip to Myrtle Beach, as members thought it wouldn’t be worth the travel time and costs when there are closer beach points.
*Even though SFB agrees to finance certain events, there is no guarantee that these events will take place. The approval only makes funds available.
(04/30/13 4:00pm)
The ECACs qualifying marks poured in on home territory as the men and women’s track and field teams took over 40 other programs at their final home meet of the season, the Lion’s Invitational, this past Saturday, April 27.
Trust was a huge factor in the success of junior Erica Roberts, sophomore Michelle Cascio, senior Kim Shelus and senior Jenna Lanzaro’s first place 4x100 meter relay that qualified for ECACs with a time of 50.01.
“I was extremely happy about the relay this weekend,” Cascio said. “We do blind handoffs so it’s all about trusting your teammate to get the baton into your hand. We have great chemistry because we are all such great friends and I think that has a lot to do with the trust we have in each other to get the baton around the track.”
Joining them at ECACs was the men’s 4x100 meter relay of senior Michael Spekhardt, freshman Jake Lindacher, junior Scott Lisa and senior Kyle Magliaro, who collectively ran a second place time of 42.71.
“Qualifying for ECACs was big for us,” Lindacher said. “Coach Lindsey made it clear at the beginning of the season that we wanted to go far with this relay, so this just puts us one step closer to making it to nationals.”
Another outstanding first place performance came on the men’s side during senior Andy Gallagher’s first college 5K, in which he clocked in at an ECAC qualifying time of 15:02.63.
“I felt pretty focused and comfortable yesterday in the 5K,” Gallagher said. “It was my first 5K on the track in college, so I was excited to give it a go. I knew that I could run near the front of that field, so I stayed around third to fifth place for most of the first two miles, making sure we were staying at about 4:50 pace per mile. Things separated a bit going into the final mile until I was in second behind one other runner. I made my move with three laps to go and took the lead, and really tried to bring it home in that last lap.”
Going forward, Gallagher is looking to win the steeplechase event this weekend at NJACs and also score points for the team in the 5K.
Junior Juan Giglio was another first place ECAC qualifier in the pole vault, clearing 4.65 meters to win the event.
Back on the women’s side, Shelus and Cascio were also part of the 4x400 meter relay that ran a 4:00.01 ECAC cut to win the event, alongside sophomores Joy Spriggs and Katelyn Ary.
Shelus continued to impress on the track running ECAC qualifiers in the both the 100 and 200 meter events.
On the field, the high jump highlighted winner, junior Brigit Roemer, who cleared a height of 1.66 meters. This jump not only gave her the win amongst the Division III athletes, but also amongst the Division I athletes.
The shot put also brought in points for the Lions as senior Mary Chismar came back from injury to throw an 11.77 meter, ECAC qualifying mark.
The ECACs will also be attended by freshman Brandon Rapp who completed the 400 meter race in 50.04, winning his heat to place ninth.
As the Lions impressed on their home track this past Saturday, they are looking to continue the success at the upcoming NJACs in which the men look to defend their 16-year title and the women look to gain it back.
(04/23/13 5:09pm)
Throughout the week on campus, large groups of students could be seen competing in field events among several other activities. This, of course, was in celebration of the sixth annual “Greek Week” here at the College, in which members of fraternities and sororities pair up to take part in the events to promote community building within Greek life.
“It’s an opportunity for members to get together with each other as a community,” said Dave Conner, head of fraternity and sorority life. “It allows them to come together to socialize and get to know each other and at the same time to grow as a community.”
The week consisted of several field games like dodge ball and volleyball, as well as Greek inspired trivia games that resulted in the crowning of Phi Alpha Delta fraternity as the winners of Greek Week.
The week was finalized with its biggest event, Airband, in which each organization put on a dance and lip sync performance for the College.
“It has nothing to do with an airband,” joked Conner, who brought the tradition with him from the University of Delaware. “It takes lip sync and dance and combines it into one.”
Airband took place last Friday, April 14 in the Brower Student Center, it offered all students at the College a chance to watch Greek organizations put on their own performances.
“It’s an opportunity for groups to really be creative,” Conner said. “It’s one event that I’ve been really fond of because you can really see all different members of an organization shine and come together as a chapter to put on a performance.”
Conner, who works alongside the Inter-Greek Council, came to the College in 2007 when the tradition of “Greek Week” first really kicked off.
“When I first came to the College, it was designed to be like homecoming of the spring,” Conner said. “It consisted of contests that paired coed teams against each other, but it created this very hyper competitive atmosphere.”
In an effort to make the week less competitive and more about community building, Conner has intentionally provided very few rules for the activities, allowing the members to use their heads and have a good time.
“We made it more of a community building piece,” Conner said. “Over the past few years, we intentionally wanted to make sure that we have the service and education component in the program, that’s the commonality, they’re all built on advancing education opportunities and promoting service.”
However, despite all efforts to reduce the competitive nature of the week, some participants still felt it.
“Everyone wants to win Greek Week,” said sophomore international business major and brother of Phi Alpha Delta, Jon Martinez. “Some people take it too seriously. They want to win more than they want to have fun, even though it’s just about having fun.”
The week also includes programs such as a “Training for Intervention Procedures (TIPS)” certification, where more than 10 percent of Greek life was able to get certified on how to provide an effective intervention to students who have had too much alcohol to drink, according to Conner.
“Greek Week is a way of bonding between fraternities and sororities,” Pat Dyer, economics of environmental quality major and brother of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity said. “It’s a week of inter-Greek lovin’.”
(04/23/13 4:15pm)
The Art Students Association was funded by the Student Finance Board for $407.08 on Wednesday, April 17, to hold their “Before I Die” event during Finals Fest.
This event will consist of a large mural on the lawn in front of the Brower Student Center that will represent a collaborative campus bucket list in which students will write what they want to do before they die.
“People get really down in the dumps and stressed during finals,” said Sophie Kay, presenting for ASA. “This is about just reminding them that there are hopeful things for their future.”
The event was passed by a unanimous vote during SFB discussion.
“It’s great idea,” assistant Student Government representative Tom Verga said. “It’ll make you think of something else other than math or finance.”
The event will take place from May 2-9 as a part of Finals Fest.
*Even though SFB agrees to finance certain events, there is no guarantee that these events will take place. The approval only makes the funds available.
(04/16/13 4:00pm)
The track was roaring with cheering fans as the College’s track and field team hosted over 25 track programs for the New Jersey Invitational, their first home meet of the season.
“We want everyone to do well on our home turf,” sophomore sprinter and long jumper Erica Roberts said. “This is where you have the upper hand.”
Roberts took advantage of performing on her home sand pit as she jumped her way to the top of the long jump scoreboard with a distance of 5.43 meters, beating out an impressive 21 competitors.
“I try not to get inside my head when I jump,” Roberts said. “I take each individual jump as what it is and try not to get discouraged if I have a bad jump.”
Roberts also ran a strong 100-meter dash alongside teammate senior Kim Shelus, who took sixth in the event.
“I love running with Kim in my heat,” Roberts laughed. “It makes me want to run faster because I know her abilities. It’s great competition.”
Shelus was also part of the 4x400-meter relay team that not only finished in first place, but also ran their best time, qualifying for the ECACs at 4:02.65. Shelus ran alongside sophomore Joy Spriggs, junior Emily Kulcyk and sophomore Katelyn Ary.
Both Ary and Kulcyk each had overwhelming success in their respective events, as Kulcyk won the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:03.97, while Ary ran a 58.44 in the open 400-meter, taking second.
The final first place finish came from freshman Kristen VanBenschoten in the shot put during her first home meet of her career here at the College.
“It was awesome,” VanBenschoten said after throwing a personal best distance of 11.48 meters to win the event. “The team is great, everyone’s so supportive and always cheering for everyone else.”
Another personal best came from sophomore Liz Johnson, who has continuously improved her 800-meter time, placing second with 2:21.06.
On the men’s side, the athletes struggled against very tough competition, but still managed to run honorable performances and a come out with a pair of ECAC qualifiers.
The sole first place win for the men belonged to junior Juan Giglio in the pole vault after he cleared 4.50 meters for the Lions.
“It’s great being at home,” senior Kyle Magliaro said. “We’ve seen a lot (of) personal bests today (and) the environment has really helped us out.”
ECAC qualifying times were posted by junior Michael Spekhardt in the 400-meter with a time of 49.98 and freshman Peter Okoh in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.94.
However, the 100-meter dash was dominated by the Lion’s assistant coach, Ashhad Agyapong who ran unattached, finishing with a time of 10.48.
As the Lions are running toward a successful season, come out and watch them sprint toward the finish line at their next home meet, the Lion’s Invitational on Friday, April 26.
(04/16/13 4:00pm)
The College’s Water Watch, the sole presenter in front of the Student Finance Board on Wednesday, April 10, was funded for $115 to be used toward their “Earth Week” program.
“They were really prepared and I really liked it,” freshman representative Brandon Klein said. Klein motioned to fully fund Water Watch’s event.
Earth Week will have daily events including Monday’s “Earth Day,” Tuesday’s “Flower Sale,” Wednesday’s “Garden Day,” Thursday’s “Green-Consumption Day” and Friday’s “Clean Up Day.”
These events will take place during the week of April 22 from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Brower Student Center and will be free to all students.
(04/09/13 4:00pm)
After working through miscommunication between the Student Finance Board and the Freshman Class Council, the Student Government officials for the Class of 2016 were allocated $10,016 to fund 300 freshmen to attend a semi-formal at $10 a ticket, on Friday, April 19.
After being zero-funded for the event for violating SFB’s policy prohibiting advertisements of the event before receiving funding, the council was mistakenly given the impression that they could appeal and be heard again.
“That’s our fault,” Milana Lazareva, SFB operations director said.
However, although the appeal was actually against policy, SFB still agreed to hear the Freshman Class Council again as a result of their miscommunication.
“First off, we want to apologize and assume responsibility for the miscommunication,” freshman class president Shapiullah Bahary said in reference to their previous violation of SFB Policy.
Members of SFB noted that the Freshman Class Council was much more prepared and organized this time, which ultimately resulted in their receiving funding for the event.
“They did really clean up their act,” Nicholas Ruppino, SFB assistant financial director said. “I was happy to see it.”
The freshman semi-formal will take place on April 19 at 8 p.m. at the Cedar Gardens Banquet Hall.
The College Union Board was also funded by SFB for $1,700 to hold their final nooner of the year, “Spring into Spring.”
“We want to go out with a bang and get students into the spring feeling and relax before finals,” said one of CUB’s presenters.
It will include an ice cream truck and other activities to welcome in the warm weather on Monday, April 22 in the Alumni Grove.
Following the idea of de-stressing before finals, the Student Government was funded for $215 to bring a caricature artist for their “Finals Fest” on May 7 at 4 p.m. The location is still being finalized.
Finally, the Women’s Center was allocated $2,900 to fund River Huston coming to speak at the College for the annual “Take Back the Night” walk on Wednesday, April 17 at 6 p.m. beginning outside of the Art and Interactive Multimedia Building.
“I think it’s important that the speaker is really good,” junior representative Kevin Garoian said in response to critics of bringing Huston, who has already appeared at the College this year during Welcome Week. “It gets really emotional, because she’s really good.”
*Even though SFB agrees to finance certain events, there is no guarantee that these events will take place. The approval only makes the funds available.
(04/02/13 4:12pm)
The Student Finance Board met on Wednesday, March 27 and fully funded the freshman and sophomore class councils’ “Spring Back,” which will be held on Sunday, April 14 on the lawn outside of Travers and Wolfe Halls.
Funded for $5,965, the event will include attractions like a three-lane sports obstacle course, a three sided eurobungy, a wrecking ball and a gladiator joust.
“It will relieve stress before finals,” said Brian Garsh, president of the sophomore class, while presenting for the sophomore class council. “It will be one last hoorah before the end of the semester.”
In addition, the Black Student Union returned to SFB to request funding again for their fashion show, “Candy Shoppe.”
They changed the theme to “Urban Wonderland,” which will be based on scenes from Alice in Wonderland. They also picked up Unified Greek Council as a co-sponsor.
During discussion, SFB was not entirely confident that the event would be able to be executed properly. However, some members of SFB felt that the event would be worth funding, which eventually led to the passing of the motion to fund the event for $6,060 with the stipulation that they charge $5 for non-students.
“I think this event is important for this group to have and it would be unfortunate if it didn’t work out,” freshman representative Tom Athan said, “but it would be more unfortunate if we didn’t give them a chance.”
“Urban Wonderland” will take place on Saturday, April 13 at 7 p.m. in Kendall Hall.
Also, the Student Film Union was zero-funded to hold “REEL Art: Student Arts and Film Festival,” due to a violation in SFB policy in which they advertised for the event before receiving funding from SFB. The advertisement appeared in The Signal.
“This is the second time in two weeks we’ve zero- funded events,” Athan said. “Maybe we can give them some kind of warning.”
Brian Green, SFB programming director, agreed, calling for a way to make the policy “more clear.”
Lindsay Klein, SFB executive director, explained that SFB has liaisons for this purpose and said, “I understand that it’s a difficult situation, but it’s policy.”
Milana Lazareva, SFB operations director, agreed saying, “It’s not our job to make sure they read the policies.”
SFB also allocated $2,435.36 to the Inter-Greek Council to rent a stage and pay for Brower Student Center cleaning after their event, “Airband,” on Friday, April 19 at 8:30 p.m.
According to SFB, “Airband,” which consists of several dance performances, requires a sturdy stage. However, in previous years the stage provided by the Brower Student Center has split apart during performances, causing a huge safety hazard. This is why they requested funding to rent a stage. They also needed funding for Brower Student Center cleaning, because Junior Visit Day will be held at the College the following morning.
The Art Students Association received $312.44 to hold a Silk Screening Workshop in the Arts and Interactive Multimedia Building.
*Even though SFB agrees to finance certain events, there is no guarantee that these events will take place. The approval only makes the funds available.
(04/02/13 4:00pm)
Boasting high marks at the Ramapo College Northeast Challenge, the Lions opened up their spring track & field season on Saturday, March 30 with some impressive showings.
The 400-meter hurdle dash belonged to the College, as sophomore Erik Moutenot won the event with a time of 56.50, while junior Emily Kulcyk won on the women’s side, crossing the line with a time of 1:06.20.
This challenge marked the first outdoor meet for the freshmen on the team, who have long careers ahead of them.
In the women’s 100-meter hurdles, junior Katie Knight won with a fast time of 15.62, followed by freshman Christine Seddon, who earned third with 16.77.
“My nerves got the best of me,” Seddon said. “I ran over the first hurdle with my wrong leg, but all things considered it was a great opening day and I know I have so much room to improve.”
Seddon is also looking forward to senior hurdler Brielle Doremus returning back from an injury.
“If all goes well, the three of us will surprise a lot of people,” Seddon said.
Another event won by the College was the 800-meter, where sophomore Robert Palmarozza finished with a time of 1:58.11.
The long-distance runners also had outstanding performances on the track with freshman Robert Guiducci, who had a great race in the 3000-meter, taking third with a time of 9:05.67.
Another third place finish came in the 1500-meter race with sophomore Liz Johnson, who ran a time of 4:51.37, followed by fifth place, senior Cathy Goncalves (4:56.83), who has been working her way back from injury.
Off the track and on the field, with no surprises, senior Steve D’Aiutolo won the triple jump with a distance of 14.04 meters, starting off the season on the right foot, as he is looking to become an All-American at Nationals this year.
The 400-meter dash was also an area of success for the Lions, as D’Aiutolo took second in the event with a quick time of 50.10, the fastest among the collegiate runners at the meet. Sophomore T.J. Kelly and junior Michael Spekhardt finished not far behind, taking fourth and fifth, respectively.
On the women’s side, sophomore Katelyn Ary took second in the event, crossing the finish line at 58.56, while senior Michelle Cascio placed fifth in the race at 1:02.49.
Cascio was also a third place finisher in the 200-meter dash, crossing the finish at 26.48, while Spekhardt took second for the men, clocking a time of 22.64.
The high jump was dominated, once again, by junior Brigit Roemer, topping the field with a jump of 1.63 meters.
The College took second in the long jump with junior Erica Roberts jumping 5.51 meters.
The weight team added significant points, with senior Mary Chismar placing second in the shot put (11.73 meters), followed by fourth place freshman rookie Kristen VanBenschoten (10.52 meters). The men’s side also had a fourth place finish in the event with sophomore Abayomi Arowolo toss a distance of 12.44 meters.
The College managed to take third place in the hammer throw with sophomore Joan Hales recording a top mark of 31.52 meters.
In his second 400-meter run of the day, Moutenot had another great race as one of the members of the winning 4x400-meter relay team, alongside Spekhardt, D’Aiutolo and Kelly, with a time of 3:23.12.
“It was great winning the relay for our heat and the meet overall,” Spekhardt said. “We split up into two relay teams and we both got the batons at the same time. Our relay just went out with the mindset that even though we had teammates in our heat, we were there to beat everyone regardless of uniforms.”
The Lions will continue their spring season at the Sam Howell Invitational hosted by Princeton University on Friday, April 5.
(03/26/13 4:27pm)
During a long and heated discussion, members of SFB zero-funded the freshman class council for a freshman semi-formal due to a strict violation in SFB policy.
According to SFB policy, the actions of the freshman class council advertising for their event and saying it was definitely going to happen before they were funded for it was, “completely inappropriate and an absolute violation of policy,” said Lindsay Klein, SFB’s executive director.
The discussion went back and forth between members like assistant financial director Nicholas Ruppino who, “hate(s) to penalize the whole class because of a mistake,” and others like junior representative Sam Hoffer, who felt that, “the rules are there for a reason.” However, in the end, the split vote revealed that SFB is there to be strict with the rules and can’t make exceptions for one group and not another.
“I really feel bad because I want them to have this event but it’s on paper,” said senior representative Joe Lacerda.
The TCNJ College Democrats were also zero-funded for their “Rally for Women Leaders” event for a violation in SFB’s two-week policy which states that they cannot fund anything that is taking place less than two weeks before they are allocated funding.
The Muslim Student Association also presented to SFB for three events to go toward their Islamic Awareness Week.
SFB funded MSA for $290 to be used for a movie screening of “Arranged,” which expounds on the issues of arranged marriages. It will be screened in the Library Auditorium on Monday, April 8 at 5:15 p.m.
MSA was also funded for $200 to be used for a comedy night with the purpose of showing students that although Muslims are sometimes portrayed as violent, “we are normal people and do normal things,” said a presenter for MSA.
Finally, MSA was funded for $2,120 for their “I am Muslim” panel. It will be held in Brower Student Center room 202 at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 20.
In addition, the Inter-Greek Council was fully funded for $12,128.77 to hold “Cirque du TCNJ” in Kendall Hall at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, April 29. It will include an acrobatic show by Magical Memories Entertainment and an illusionist performance by Reza.
CUB was also funded for $730 by a unanimous vote to be used for a “Do You Hear the People Sing-Along” which will be an upgraded version of their movie series. It will feature a screening of “Les Misérables” on Saturday, April 6 where the students can sing-along and enjoy a mock wine and cheese party with trivia and prizes.
SFB also allocated $326 to Voice of Hope to hold their annual Voice of Hope Spring Concert on Saturday 5 p.m. It will be a concert with the purpose of “spreading the message of Jesus Christ” through acapella, skits and a spoken message, according to the club.
Finally, SFB picked up the American Society of Civil Engineers, who will now be eligible for SAF funding.
*Even though SFB agrees to finance certain events, there is no guarantee that these events will take place. The approval only makes the funds available.
*Correction: This article initially stated that the "Do You Hear the People Sing-Along" would take place on March 30, it is actually April 6.
(03/26/13 4:00pm)
Under an extreme amount of pressure, senior diver Danica Roskos was still able to make history, not only at the College’s levels, but also at NCAA Division III levels, becoming the first female diver to win three consecutive national titles in the same event.
“Though she would never admit it, she was under an extraordinary amount of pressure from everyone else to win and she handled the pressure like the true champion she is,” head coach Jennifer Harnett said.
The three-peat was completed for Roskos at Nationals in Shenandoah, Texas after winning with a score of 466.65 in the 1-meter event to set the NCAA record.
“I tried to not think about the end result of the meet,” Roskos said. “It was very important for me to focus on each individual dive.”
Roskos felt very prepared coming into the meet because of diving coach, Candace Gottleib, who also coached junior Sabrina Lucchesi side-by-side with Roskos.
Lucchesi earned All-American honorable mention honors with her 13th-place finish.
“Candace prepared Sabrina and I mentally for this meet,” Roskos said. “She did this by making sure that we were comfortable with each dive we competed and by making sure that our dives were consistent.”
Originally a gymnast for 10 years, Roskos first took up diving after several injuries from gymnastics because it would be less taxing on her body and eventually stuck with it all throughout high school and into college.
However, despite diving under a tremendous amount of pressure, Roskos was able to keep her composure throughout the competition, simply by enjoying her sport.
“During the whole competition on the 1-meter she never seemed nervous,” Harnett said. “She looked like she was enjoying every moment of it.”
Finishing off her career at the College with four national titles, six All-American honors in six events and the NCAA 1-meter event record, Roskos certainly does have a lot to enjoy.
“To win another championship and to also be recognized as the NCAA female diver of the year for the third year in a row, shows what an amazing athlete she is and it was the best way she could finish her career,” Harnett said.
Another outstanding career culminated in Texas with senior swimmer Kayleigh Shangle, who garnered 18 All-American citations at the College.
Shangle, who holds the program record in the 100-yard breastroke and 200-yard breastroke, is a member of four record holding relays at the College and was named 2012-13 NJAC Swimmer of the Year this past winter, finishing 25th overall in the 200-yard breast event with a time of 2:14.14.
“Not many swimmers can say that they went to NCAA’s four years in a row and were All-American each year,” Harnett said. “Her legacy will not only set the bar higher for future swimmers coming through the program, but the great team experience she has helped create with her classmates has brought us to the next level and will be something every class after her will aspire to do as well.”
The men’s swimming and diving team also had spectacular performances in which all 11 athletes at the tournament came home with either All-American or honorable mention All-American honors.
Placing fourth in the 200-yard freestyle relay, the team of juniors William Kasper, Philip Hawley and Stephen Gibson, and senior Adam Schneider highlighted the meet for the College with the impressive the race.
Also, senior Michael Caputo had a 15th-place finish in the 1,650-yard freestyle event to complete the trip home with every member of the team earning All-American honors.
“Mike did a great job and his qualification for the NCAA Championships was the culmination of hard work and sacrifice throughout a great career,” head coach Brian Bishop said. “Earning honorable mention All-American honors is quite an achievement and is something Mike will remember for a long time.”
The Lions came back to the College making history and setting records, proving that hard work and sacrifice lead to victory.
“I feel extremely lucky to have had such a unique experience,” Roskos said. “It means a lot to me to have been able to end my career on such a high note. It is what most athletes dream of. I am glad to be starting a new chapter in my life, but a little sad to leave this one behind.”
(03/19/13 4:32pm)
Surprising as it may be, stepping into a small room with white cement walls, yellow closet doors and a stranger as a roommate doesn’t always provide first-year students with the home-like feeling that they’ve grown used to living in. However, for two freshmen in Wolfe Hall, “home is where the heart is.”
Winning the first ever TCNJ Cribs contest, roommates Gail Schulman, open options humanities and social sciences major, and Kate Caratenuto, communication studies major, both decorated their room with inspiration from home.
“I always bring my paintings wherever I go,” Schulman said. “We both happened to decorate our sides in a way where it just worked, the great thing is that it feels at home whenever either of us walk into our room.”
The contest was co-sponsored by the Residence Hall Association and sophomore marketing major Monique Boskett of the Sophomore Advisory Board.
“Our plan was to have the contest so that people could not only show off their room but so they could also see how they could decorate their room,” said Boskett, who also ran the TCNJ Cribs Facebook page. “On top of that, we figured it would help people who didn’t know what certain residence halls looked like and to see where they could be living.”
Several submissions were sent in and judged by the residential education and housing professional staff for the first round. The winners of each residence hall were picked and given a gift certificate to Target.
The second round consisted of a display of each residence hall winner’s pictures on the Facebook page. 40 percent of the vote was based on the amount of “likes” the pictures received and 60 percent of the vote was from the residential directors in order to make sure the process was fair, according to Boskett.
Several of the contestants had creative rooms, including mood lighting for every occasion in the Townhouses and a poker table in Centennial Hall.
The winning room was favored with its creativity and was highlighted by Caratenuto’s newspaper cutout letters spelling out, “For in our dreams we enter a world that is entirely our own.”
“The quote took me a while,” Caratenuto said. “But in the end, it’s my favorite addition to our room.”
As the first ever TCNJ Cribs contest wrapped up for the year, Schulman and Caratenuto happily accepted their first place prizes of iPod Nanos.
“It felt absolutely awesome,” Schulman said on the feeling of winning. “We’re both pretty psyched, and hey, what’s not to love about a free iPod?”
(03/19/13 4:27pm)
The Student Finance Board met on Wednesday, March 6 to discuss the funding of Ratfest ’13 and a Hip-Hop Showcase among many other events for the students to enjoy.
CUB Rat was funded for $37,825 to hold Ratfest ’13, an outdoor concert featuring popular artists on the Sundial Lawn. The proposed list of bands includes The Maine, The Starting Line, Saves The Day, We The Kings and A Rocket To The Moon.
CUB was also funded by SFB for $13,064 to hold a Hip-Hop Showcase which will include a mix of professional and student performers.
The student performances will consist of a step team battle between TCNJ and Rider students, a rap battle, and a spoken word poet, according to CUB. It is set to be held in Brower Student Center 202 on April 9 at 7 p.m.
Wrapping up CUB’s presentations to SFB was their event “College Cooking with MasterChef’s Monti Carlo.” SFB funded this event for $6,410 and it is set to be held on April 22 at 8 p.m. in room 115 of the Education Building.
SFB also funded the TCNJ Hellenic Society for $3,010.09 to hold Greek Fest on April 17 in the Brower Student Center. Greek Fest will offer traditional Greek food, dance troupes, costumes and music in order to immerse the College in Greek culture.
The Alternative Break Club presented to SFB for their Mardi Gras Masquerade, an event held to bring the New Orleans culture to the College. They were fully funded for $5,707.01 to hold the event on April 3 at 8:30 p.m. in the Brower Student Center.
In addition, the Sophomore Class Council was funded for $6,675 for their event, “Laughing at Our Differences,” a presentation from a speaker that uses his experiences as an amputee to share lessons about disability and diversity.
This event will be held on March 28 in the Brower Student Center food court.
Union Latina also presented to SFB to hold “Los Carnivales de UL,” their opening ceremony for Latino Awareness Celebration Month. They were fully funded for $1,250 for the event which will include an experience of Latino culture through traditional foods, the history of Latinos and other events for the students.
Also among the presenters was Chabad for their Passover Seder on March 25 in at 7:30 p.m. SFB fully funded them for $1,840 with the stipulation that they add funds in order for them to hold the event on campus in the 1855 room.
SFB funded $1,150 for the Mathematics and Statistics Club to host a bus trip to the Museum of Mathematics in NYC in order to expand people’s understanding and admiration for math and science as a discipline, according to the club.
The event will be free to all students and will take place at 10 a.m. on March 23.
After that, the Leadership Development Program was funded by SFB for $3,500 to hold “Lead Week” at the College beginning on April 1.
According to LDP, Lead Week is a week long celebration to promote leadership on campus and will include keynote speakers and leadership training.
During the meeting, SFB tabled the Inter-Greek Council for Cirque du TCNJ because there would not be enough publicity for the event to be held on the date originally proposed.
*Even though SFB agrees to finance certain events, there is no guarantee that these events will take place. The approval only makes the funds available.
(03/19/13 4:00pm)
Checking “All-American” off of their bucket lists, senior Julio Alorro and junior Dominic Tasco left the NCAA Championships in Naperville, Ill. with the completion of a successful season.
“I told myself it was just like any other meet,” Alorro said. “I kept to myself and acted like it was practice.”
Becoming the first All-American in the pole vault in the College’s history, Alorro cleared the bar with a height of 4.79 meters (15’ 8.5”), also setting the school record.
“Sometimes I still think it’s not real,” Alorro said. “It’s like a really good dream.”
Clocking in with a time of 1:52.16 in the finals of the 800-meter race, Tasco finished in fifth place to also become an All-American for the Lions.
“It is an amazing feeling,” Tasco said. “It didn’t fully hit me until I stepped on the podium. I’m happy that all the hard work has paid off.”
Tasco first competed in the 800-meter trials and raced for the top two in his heat in order to be guaranteed a spot in the finals. It’s a tough task, but Tasco was ready.
“Being at nationals before made a huge impact on my race strategy,” Tasco said. “I was able to relax in the beginning and pick people off each lap. I was sitting in second with a lap to go and my thought was to do just enough to take second and save my energy for the finals.”
As the finals came around, the top eight athletes raced for time as they had already achieved All-American honors.
“The goal was still to place as high as I can,” Tasco said. “I ran faster than I did in the trials, so I’m happy with the result.”
Preparing for their events under the pressure of coming close to their goals can be challenging for most athletes. However, Tasco simply relaxed at the meet by joking around with his teammates and coaches while Alorro listened to classical music leading up to the meet and then switched to “The Intro” by XX when he arrived and warmed up.
“This time around I ended my season with the results we were looking for,” Tasco said. “It’s a great experience and I’m grateful for the opportunity to compete at Nationals.”
Also competing at the meet in the triple jump was senior Steve D’Aiutolo who finished 12th among all Division III athletes in the country.
“Competing at Nationals was a great experience,” D’Aiutolo said. “Very few meets have that sort of atmosphere about them and it was rush competing against the best athletes in Division III.”
As the Indoor season comes to a close for the Lions, both the men and women’s track and field teams will begin their spring season, opening at the Ramapo College Northeast Challenge in Mahwah, N.J.
It will be hard to top the winter season, which was a memorable one, but these athletes are up for the challenge as they get ready for the spring.
“Now that I’ve been there once, this time just qualifying for Nationals will not be good enough,” D’Aiutolo said. “I not only want to make the trip to Wisconsin, I want to become an All-American.”
(03/05/13 5:43pm)
The Student Finance Board met on Wednesday, Feb. 27 to discuss the funding of College Union Board, Student Finance Board and Student Government’s Funival 2013 annual spring carnival, as well as several other requests.
CUB, SFB and SG were fully funded for $116,775 to go toward Funival.
“What we’re really trying to do is make sure there’s something for everybody this year,” said senior Lindsay Klein, SFB’s executive director.
Funival will include a ferris wheel, Himalaya, Sizzler, Gravitron, bumper cars, firefighter derby and several other types of activities for students to enjoy. This event will take place on Friday, May 3 at 6 p.m. and will be free to all students and cost $10 for all non-students.
“I like this year how everything they’re doing is really like a carnival,” said senior representative Joseph Lacerda. “They’re bringing a lot of different factions for everyone.”
CUB was also funded an additional appropriation of $6,925 to go toward their 25th annual Into the Jungle Latenighter, which was previously funded for $30,031.
SFB allocated a total of $36,956 to CUB for this event that will include a jungle obstacle course, exotic bird display, reptile shows, green screen photo booth and several other free activities for the students to enjoy on Friday, April 5 at 8 p.m. in the Brower Student Center.
In addition, Union Latina presented four separate multicultural requests to SFB for their events during Latino Awareness Celebration Month.
SFB fully funded Union Latina for $4,939 to bring Maria Costa to the College to present her discussion “Macho Men and the Women Who Love Them,” which will “show the campus the culture in a hilarious way,” according to the presenters for Union Latina. It will take place on April 5 at 8 p.m. in Kendall Hall.
Union Latina was also allocated $3,492.40 to go toward their annual Copa Night, which will be a celebration of Latino Awareness through traditional Latino music in a live band format.
“I like how they’re kind of stepping it up a little bit,” said junior representative Samantha Hoffer. “They put a lot of effort into planning this.”
Following, Union Latina was funded for $950 to be used for a bus trip to New York City to see the play “En el Tiempo de las Mariposas,” based on the book “In the Time of the Butterflies” that is also being taught in several courses at the College.
Finally, Union Latina’s request for funding of their Opening Ceremony was tabled because members of SFB felt that there is a lot more that they can do with the event to make it more successful.
After that, SFB funded the TCNJ Swing Dance Club $945 for their event “A Night of Ritz and Glitz,” which will feature live music and swing dancers from the local intercollegiate area.
“I’m all for this event,” said Nicholas Ruppino, SFB’s assistant financial director, as SFB unanimously voted to fully fund the event.
Another special appropriation request was from INK for their event, “The Goods,” which will allow students to read poetry and prose and perform skits and music. It will be headlined by poet Matthew Zapruder.
The event was funded for $1,335 and is free to all students and will take place at the Rathskeller on Saturday, April 27.
PRISM was also funded by SFB for $2,100 to bring Sam Killermann to the College on April 17 to present “It’s Pronounced Metrosexual.” This event is a one-man comedy act about snap judgements, identity and oppression, according to PRISM, and will be free to all students.
The Japanese Culture Club also presented to SFB to host a trip to Sakura Matsuri, an annual cherry blossom festival in Washington D.C., which was funded for $3,400 and will be free to all students. The trip will take place on April 13.
“It’s a lot of fun,” said the presenters for Japanese Culture Club. “It’s like this big street festival with good food, vendors and performances.”
The Spanish Club was also funded for $1,700 to host a bus trip to Washington D.C. to go to the Smithsonian for the exhibition on Central American Ceramics.
The event will be open and free to all students will take place on Saturday, April 6.
Another bus trip was funded by SFB for the American Marketing Association to host an open trip to attend a professional development session with Development Counselors International. The event was funded for $1,150 and will take place on Wednesday, April 10 and will be free to all those who attend.
“I think it’s a great event,” said freshman representative Brandon Klein. “As a non-marketing major, I would want to go to it.”
The New Jersey Christian Fellowship was funded the full $1,390.75 requested to attend Basileia, a regional conference.
The Gospel United Ministries was zero funded for their request to host a Gospel Extravaganza. Members of SFB thought the idea was good, but because theyhaven’t done programming in the last two years, they don’t have the manpower to host the event and should start with something smaller.
*Even though SFB agrees to finance certain events, there is no guarantee that these events will take place. The approval only makes the funds available.
(03/05/13 5:00pm)
Starting the season on a shaky note and suffering from the flu, junior Dominic Tasco has not only upped his game, but has also demonstrated the successful results that yield from hard work and perseverance.
“It’s a struggle when you aren’t running as fast as you would like to in the beginning of the season,” Tasco said. “It takes a lot of time and effort to be physically and mentally prepared to race, to be able to put together fast races during championship season is such a great feeling.”
Taking eighth place, Tasco produced the top Division III time in the 800-meter with a time of 1:51.39 at the IC4A, an affiliate of the ECACs that contains competitors from Division I and Division II teams.
“IC4As was a great race,” Tasco said. “I stuck exactly to the race plan and we left Boston with one of the top times in the country. The rest of the field went out a little quick for the first 400 meters and I was able to make my move in the second half of the race to accomplish the goal we set out for.”
Tasco’s time achieved the second-best performance in the College’s program history, falling just short of Jeff Zodda’s record of 1:51.32 during the 2006 season.
“I’ve only heard great things about Jeff Zodda,” Tasco said. “Our Indoor school record time is from when he won the Indoor Nationals. To be that close to his record gives me a lot of confidence for future races.”
Tasco is now mentally preparing for the 800-metersat the NCAA championship next weekend and will compete for an individual title amongst the best of the Division III athletes.
Also roaring their way to success at the Division III ECACs in New York State, the women placed fifth at the meet with 39 points.
“I was really happy to finish second in long jump,” said junior Erica Roberts, who jumped a distance of 5.46 meters. “Going in, I just wanted to place in the top-eight, so when I not only placed, but got second after jumping a personal best, I was really happy and proud of myself.”
The high jump also provided the Lions with a fourth place performance by junior Brigit Roemer, who cleared the bar at 1.64 meters.
The women’s 4x800-meter relay also had a second-place performance, setting a school record with a time 9:32.37. The team was comprised of junior Anginelle Alabanza and sophomores Katelyn Ary, Liz Johnson and Megan Stack.
The men’s 4x800-meter relay also had an impressive race, placing third at the meet. The team made up of senior Michael Berti, senior Andy Gallagher, sophomore Erik Moutenot and junior James Seyffart boasted a time of 7:49.32.
“Getting medals at ECACs is always a privilege that not many athletes are luckily enough to have,” junior Michael Spekhardt said. “It feels good to see your teammates give 100 percent and share some success with you.”
Spekhardt was part of the 4x400-meter relay alongside senior captain Steve D’Aiutolo, senior Alex Brown and sophomore T.J. Kelly to finish sixth with a time of 3:20.49. Brown also took eighth in the 400-meters, running a time of 49.61.
“I love running at big venues,” Spekhardt said. “It’s special when your races are streamed live online so that friends and family can watch. My dad came to our meet and having him able to support me means the world to me.”
Despite all of their continuous success, the athletes still have high expectations for the rest of their season.
“I’m very happy with how the season has gone so far, but we still have a week to go,” Tasco said. “The goal this season is to compete for the National title for my event, so I will call it a successful season if I qualify for the final.”