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(02/06/08 12:00pm)
An intoxicated male was found on Jan. 25 at 2:10 a.m. When a Campus Police officer arrived at the scene, the male was sitting on the sidewalk and swaying his upper body side to side. The officer found his breath smelled like alcohol, his eyes were bloodshot and glassy, his speech was slurred, he was unable to stand straight up and there was an unknown liquid on the front of his shirt. When the officer asked what the liquid was, the student replied, "I'm not telling anything."
The officer found that he was only wearing a thin shirt and no protective clothes were in the area, although the temperature was 22 degrees.
The intoxicated student was brought to the lobby of New Residence Hall and Lions EMS was contacted for further assistance.
There is no further information at this time.
.
A male was arrested for trespassing on campus for the second time on Thursday, Jan. 10, in Lot 2 in front of Brower Student Center. He was riding his bike and seemed to be evading the police officer, who followed him onto the Business Building sidewalk from Metzger Drive. After the suspect failed to respond to verbal commands to stop, the officer activated the siren.
The officer asked his name and the suspect identified himself and then said "I know I am not supposed to be here. I am cutting through to get to labor ready," and "I am going to keep coming here until you police stop harassing me."
When the officer asked if he was aware that he was trespassing, he responded "Yeah I know and I am going to keep coming here until you guys stop bothering me."
The suspect was arrested and charged for trespass on Nov. 23, 2007 and Dec. 31, 2007. He has been banned from campus as of Jan. 20, 1998. He was placed under arrest and brought to Campus Police headquarters. He was released at 10:10 a.m.
There is no further information at this time.
.
A suspicious person was reported in the Packer Hall swim locker room on Jan. 19 at 3:40 p.m. The citizen who reported the person described the man as a thin, black male over 6 feet tall wearing jeans and a black hooded jacket. The citizen said he was opening the lockers and looking through the contents.
When Campus Police entered the locker room they found someone meeting the suspect's description. He said he was a resident of Travers/Wolfe halls, though the College was closed for Winter break during this time. He then said he was a Sodexho employee and was using the showers because he had no other residence.
There is no further information at this time.
...
Damage to the second floor of New Residence Hall was reported on Saturday, Jan. 26, at 11:45 p.m. An assistant resident director reported damage to multiple ceiling tiles, two exit signs and a ceiling vent.
The staff member said the damage was done between 2 a.m. on Jan. 25. and 11:45 p.m. on Jan. 26.
There is no further information at this time.
(12/05/07 12:00pm)
Maya Bynum, a Sodexho worker employed at the College, has been arrested and charged with homicide after allegedly stabbing and killing her boyfriend.
According to the Trenton Police Department, Bynum, 25, fatally stabbed Anthony Orlando Keene, 40, on Nov. 23 at about 2 a.m.
According to Casey DiBlasio of the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office, bail was originally set at $350,000 but was lowered Monday, Dec. 4 by $100,000.
As of Wednesday afternoon Bynum had not posted bail, according to the Mercer County Office of Corrections.
Police said the incident occurred in Trenton on the front porch of Bynum's 100 block residence. Trenton police arrived at the scene, where they said they found Keene face down on the kitchen floor of the first floor apartment. At the time, police said he was bleeding and unresponsive.
Keene was pronounced dead at Capital Health System shortly after being transported.
DiBlasio said Bynum gave a statement to the police confessing that she stabbed Keene.
Trenton police said Bynum was immediately taken into custody. She was later charged with homicide.
While in police custody, Bynum complained of pain in her arms and shoulder and was taken to Saint Francis Medical Center where she was treated for a bite to her left shoulder, according to police.
Defense attorney Steve Hallett said Tuesday that he is hopeful he can prove that Bynum acted in self-defense.
"They tell me that self-defense doesn't apply here because she didn't apply for a restraining order," Hallett said.
Hallett believes the case is more complex, however. He said he has a list of possible eye-witnesses who have seen Keene exhibiting abusive behavior.
According to Hallett, Bynum first attacked Keene by slashing at his arm; the second cut was on Keene's leg, indicating that he may have been trying to kick her.
He admitted that although those cuts could be interpreted several different ways, one possible explanation is that Bynum was attempting to fend off Keene.
Hallett called Keene "super abusive," saying he had kicked and bitten her in the past.
Bynum has worked on campus for the past two years, according to Anthony Owens, a Sodexho USA spokesperson.
Owens said Sodexho has not been contacted by police authorities, but "we will be working with the authorities if they contact us."
(11/28/07 12:00pm)
A Domino's Pizza delivery sign was found in a room in Travers Hall on Nov. 4 at 3:20 a.m. A Campus Police officer was dispatched to Travers on report of a fire alarm sounding off.
When the officer arrived at the room the officer did not observe any signs of smoke or fire.
The resident of the room said he had just finished cooking popcorn in the microwave, so the officer directed attention toward the middle of the room where the microwave was.
The officer then noticed a Domino's sign and remembered hearing that a Domino's Pizza delivery person had the sign removed from his vehicle earlier in the semester from the rear of Travers/Wolfe halls in the parking lot.
The officer questioned the student about the sign, and he said it belonged to his roommate and he had no idea where it came from.
The student said his roommate was out of town.
The officer removed the sign from the room.
There is no further information at this time.
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At 7:50 p.m. on Nov. 8 a Campus Police officer responded to criminal mischief and a possible bias incident in Wolfe Hall when a student reported the word "niggerland" was written on the wall.
The officer went to the location and took a picture of the word.
The officer spoke to the victims who said someone wrote the word on the wall between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m., but they did not know who.
The officer then cleaned the area.
There is no further information at this time.
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A student reported the theft of part of her bike on Nov. 13 at 4:15 p.m.
The student said her bike was locked to a bench outside of Decker Hall between 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 12 and 8 a.m. on Nov. 13.
Her bicycle seat, which is black with green trim, and post were stolen.
The total value of the stolen items was $50.
There is no further information at this time.
(11/14/07 12:00pm)
On Oct. 31 at 3 a.m. Campus Police was dispatched to the Student Recreation Center on a report of a stolen golf cart. When the officer arrived, Rec. Center staff said between the hours of 10:30 p.m. and 2:55 a.m. an unknown person took the cart without permission. A staff member said he had seen the cart parked in the storage area at 10:30 p.m. and noticed the cart was missing when he returned at 2:55 a.m.
He said other student staff workers had been in the area and he did not know if the doors had been secured.
At 5:15 a.m. on Oct. 31 a search for the golf cart was succesful and the cart was found with the keys still in the starter.
There are no suspects at this time.
...
On Nov. 5 at 12:50 a.m. Campus Police was dispatched to the front of Travers Hall on report of an intoxicated female. The officer met with a friend of the intoxicated student, who told the officer that the female had five to six shots of vodka at an on-campus party.
The student was too intoxicated to answer questions from the officer.
The student was transported to Capital Health Systems Mercer Campus for further evaluation.
The student was issued a summons for underage consumption of alcoholic beverages.
(11/07/07 12:00pm)
A nationwide shortage of nursing faculty has not significantly affected the College yet, due to careful planning by administrators.
According to Dean of the School of Nursing, Health and Exercise Science Susan Bakewell-Sachs, the School of Nursing is able to cover both lecture and clinical classes, despite the national crisis.
Although all classes are currently covered, Bakewell-Sachs said the school is focused on succession planning. Like other nursing schools, the College has more senior faculty than junior faculty. A search began in late September to fill two tenure-track positions, which will be available in fall of 2008.
Bakewell-Sachs said one of the biggest challenges facing nursing schools is that the majority of nurses do not have the qualifications to teach. Only 9 percent of nurses have a master's degree and of that 9 percent, only 1 percent of registered nurses (RNs) have a doctorate.
A master's degree in nursing is the minimum degree needed to teach nursing in New Jersey, although faculty members may have their doctorate in nursing or in a discipline other than nursing, such as public health, science, social sciences or education.
According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), the national nursing shortage is expected to intensify as baby boomers age, nurses retire in increasing numbers and more healthcare is needed.
However, AACN reported that over 42,000 qualified applicants were turned away from baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs in 2006 due in part to the shortage in faculty. Although nursing enrollments have risen substantially in the past six years, the decade before that had seen falling enrollments. As fewer nurses entered the profession, the average age of RNs, as well as the average age of nursing faculty, has risen.
Bakewell-Sachs said the average age for an RN in New Jersey is 49 and the average age for nursing faculty in New Jersey is 55. Both nationally and in New Jersey, the average age of retirement for nursing faculty is 62.
"We have a supply issue that doesn't match demand," she said.
Fewer than 10 percent of all nurses in the United States are currently under the age of 30.
One limiting factor in bringing nurses in to teach is the increasing demand for nurses with advanced degrees in practice settings such as hospitals, and in other professions such as the pharmaceutical industry and insurance. Bakewell-Sachs said these positions are appealing because of the higher salaries.
"Faculty salaries are significantly lower in general than those nurses with Masters and Doctorates can make in clinical practice and other sectors," she said.
In addition, nursing faculty members have an intensive course schedule. Faculty members often are required to be present on clinical sites as well as in a classroom setting. In a clinical site one faculty member must be present to supervise every 10 students. The College tries to keep this ratio as low as one to eight or nine.
Bakewell-Sachs said nurses who are doctorally prepared are also contributing to the research of nursing science. She said there are many more career opportunities for those with advanced degrees.
At the College, one factor that could contribute to a shortage in faculty in the future is the growth in the number of nursing students enrolled. Bakewell-Sachs said the College had about 147 undergraduate nursing students when she became dean in 2000. This year, there are over 300 nursing undergraduates, putting the nursing undergraduate program at capacity.
In New Jersey, the number of nursing students has increased 72 percent since 2002.
Bakewell-Sachs said a reason for the surge in nursing students is the career opportunities in the field and the expected workforce shortage through at least 2020.
"The demand for qualified RNs in these students' lifetimes is huge," she said.
Bakewell-Sachs said there is always a hope that students who graduate from the nursing program will take a career path that includes a master's degree.
As soon as a student graduates from the School of Nursing at the College, he or she is eligible to sit for the RN licensing exam and to apply for graduate school.
"They are eligible to go on to graduate school because of their educational study here," she said.
Bakewell-Sachs said the vast majority of students who graduate from the College go for a master's degree. She said nursing students are no different from students in other disciplines in that respect.
"There is often a misconception that nursing is different," she said.
New Jersey has PhD programs for nurses at Rutgers and Seton Hall, as well as a related field doctorate at UMDNJ. Fairleigh Dickinson University, Rutgers, and UMDNJ also offer the Doctorate of Nursing Practice.
In order to ensure the College has all its classes covered, the School of Nursing has been working to create part-time positions to cover clinical and lecture classes.
"We want to maintain the integrity of the curriculum," Bakewell-Sachs said. "We want to find and retain the best people we can."
(11/07/07 12:00pm)
An assault was reported on Saturday, Oct. 20, at 5:40 p.m. A student was found bleeding from the head and lying unconscious in Lot 4, and was transported to Capital Health Systems for further evaluation.
A witness to the injury said he saw the end of an altercation with the unconscious student and another student over "cheese balls." The witness said the unconscious student pushed the other student when he touched his container of cheese balls. The other student pushed back, causing him to lose his balance and hit his head on a concrete container that was supporting a tent pole. The witness said one student was the aggressor and visibly intoxicated.
At 1:30 a.m. the other student involved came to Campus Police. He said he did not need medical assistance but that he had consumed alcoholic beverages. He looked visibly upset.
The student who came to Campus Police said he threw a soda can onto the ground in Lot 4 earlier. The soda can exploded and the soda landed on the injured student's friend. The injured student asked him to stop and the student who threw the can responded by taking the injured student's container of cheese balls and dumping them on other bystanders in the area. The injured student then attempted to take the container of cheese balls back from the other student. The injured student pushed the student who threw the soda and was pushed back. The injured student then lost his balance and fell to the ground.
The other student walked away and later noticed that he was still lying on the ground. The injured student said he did not want to sign a complaint against him for assault.
There is no further information at this time.
...
On Oct. 27 at 2:25 a.m. Travers staff members reported a resident with stomach problems to Campus Police. The student was lying on the top bunk of the bed inside his room. When the officer asked him to come down for questioning the student slipped and caught his foot in a lanyard that was hanging out of his back pocket while climbing down. When he was standing on the ground he started to sway back and forth and his eyes looked glassy. The student said he had eaten bad pasta earlier.
The student said he did not consume any alcohol but was slurring his speech. Lions' EMS arrived on the scene and the student could not properly spell his address.
The student said he did not consume "that much" and said he drank one shot of an alcoholic beverage and also consumed Benadryl Brand allergy medication. A professional staff member cleared him to stay on campus for the night.
He was issued a summons for minors consuming alcoholic beverages.
...
At 2:05 a.m. on Oct. 28 a Campus Police officer observed a white male wearing a gray sweatshirt near the entrance to Lot 9. Another white male wearing a white and gray striped shirt was also with him. The students told the officer that they were "at some off-campus party" and they were waiting for friends to get back to campus. Their eyes appeared glassy and they slurred several words when they spoke. The officer noticed an odor of alcohol coming from them.
Both individuals said they were visiting a friend and they had gone to an off-campus "frat hour" and had consumed "several cups of beer from a keg."
Neither were students of the College.
There is no further information at this time.
(11/07/07 12:00pm)
Students will have the opportunity during the 2008-2009 school year to live in the office of Residential Education and Housing's (ResEd) newly implemented Living/Learning Communities (LLC), which means groups of students can apply to be housed together based on a common academic theme they wish to explore.
According to Tina Tormey, ResEd assistant director, the theme can be based on a class or academic pursuit. Some examples include vegan/vegetarian housing, a global studies LLC and an LLC that will focus on sustainability and environmental concerns.
LLCs will include learning initiatives; members of each LLC will be required to host programs that explore their specific academic initiative and open up discussion for the whole campus.
Travers Community Advisor Cassandra Hale said she is definitely interested in looking at an LLC for next year.
"I'm so psyched about the LLC housing option for next year. I'm hoping to take on a ResEd position connected to one of the communities," Hale said. "I think what I'm most interested in is a vegan/vegetarian community. However I'd also be interested in anything along the lines of feminism, sustainability or gender-blind communities."
In order to participate in an LLC, students must fill out a proposal which is due Dec. 7.
In the proposal, the students must suggest what location they would like to be housed in. Tormey said depending on the proposal, students may wish to be housed in a certain area. A vegan/vegetarian LLC, for example, would need to be housed in an area with a kitchen for campus-wide programs involving food.
A global studies LLC might need to be housed in a building with break housing, since international students might participate and need to be housed over breaks.
Hale said many of her residents are interested in proposing LLCs. She said it will not only benefit individual students but the campus as a whole.
"It's a lot easier to educate and spread the word about different interests and lifestyles when you're not going it alone," Hale said. "When you have a community with similar beliefs you have a better chance at making your voice heard on campus and making your college experience better for you and by opening other people's minds to what they might not have known before."
Proposals must also include the name of an adviser, a goal statement and how much funding is required. Funding will be provided by ResEd.
Tormey said not all proposals will be granted because next year will be the pilot year for the program. She said she might meet with students after the proposals are submitted to clarify their proposals.
"We want to fine tune things and work with a smaller group," she said. "Students have never had the opportunity to do anything like this before."
Tormey said the proposals will probably be written by eight to 25 students, but that the LLCs will be open during the housing lottery for other students as well.
The process of implementing the LLCs will begin the lottery process; students who apply for specific housing must be housed first. Other students, however, will be allowed to join the community during the lottery process as long as they are willing to commit to the initiatives and goals of the LLC.
She said LLCs are similar to housing freshman year, when students are housed by their First Seminar Progam (FSP). LLCs carry on the idea of housing students according to similar interests.
Other schools have considered ethnic housing in the past; Tormey said this would work if students had a goal statement and were able to show how their goals would be met.
"It has to be a community that's opened up to anyone," she said.
According to Tormey, the idea of themed housing has been discussed at the College for a few years.
Other New Jersey schools that have themed housing include Monmouth University, which offers 24-hour quiet floors, substance free floors and leadership floors. Rutgers University offers "special-interest" housing, which includes sections focused on creative writing and literary theory, music appreciation, performing arts, visual arts, sex, sexuality and gender, philosophy and religion and spirituality.
Tormey said the program has two main goals.
"Students focus more on something they want to learn about," she said. "And it helps them share that with their peers."
(10/31/07 12:00pm)
Two students found several insects in the steamed broccoli served at Eickhoff Hall on Oct. 18.
Shaina Basile, junior criminology and justice studies major, said she was about to eat the broccoli from the "Classics" station when a freshman student saw her and stopped her from eating it.
"To my horror, there were about 10 to 15 little black bugs under the broccoli head," Basile said. "I immediately told her that it had to be reported to the kitchen staff because it was a health hazard."
The students spoke with Lee Brandolini, director of Resident Dining, who pulled the tray from the Classics station and inspected the other frozen bags in the kitchen, all of which were fine.
John Higgins, general manager of Sodexho Dining Services, said having insects in the produce is one of the issues that come with purchasing produce from small farmers. This year, Sodexho has adopted the Jersey Fresh program, so produce is purchased from local farmers within the state whenever possible.
"We've made a significant shift in produce purchasing this year," Higgins said.
"This is one of the challenges with local farming."
He said Sodexho contacted the produce company after the insects were found.
Higgins said the change to Jersey Fresh was caused by student feedback for healthier, more organic food, students' call for sustainability and President R. Barbara Gitenstein's signing of the Campus Climate Commitment, an agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the College. A goal of the Jersey Fresh program is to do away with pesticides.
Higgins said the New Jersey Department of Agriculture called the College one of the most aggressive colleges in the Jersey Fresh Program.
Barbara Bromley, Mercer County horticulturist, said the insects found are not actually a health hazard.
"We have very clean food here in the United States as opposed to other countries, especially packaged pantry food," Bromley said. "But occasionally something gets by."
Bromley said the insects would not physically hurt someone who accidentally ate them.
"It doesn't hurt you, it more hurts your psyche," she said.
Bromley said broccoli is one of the most difficult crops to grow without insects because of the little buds.
"It's easy for insects not to be rinsed off or steamed off in the cooking process." she said.
Basile said she thought the Eickhoff staff should have informed people already eating in Eickhoff about the insects.
"It is really possible that people in the cafeteria were eating the broccoli but weren't informed of what happened," she said. "I feel that the people who were eating in Eickhoff at that moment should have been told."
Bromley said the insects that would infect broccoli are edible.
"It's unfortunate," she said, "but not a health risk."
(10/31/07 12:00pm)
On Thursday, Oct. 4, at 12:05 a.m. Campus Police received several calls from residents of Townhouses South and West about a suspicious person harassing them and attempting to enter their residences.
When a Campus Police officer arrived at Townhouses South, the officer found the student sitting on a bench in front of the complex. When the officer asked him to provide identification, the student clenched his fists, attempted to stand and yelled "Fuck you, douche bag!" The student then put his hands in his pockets and continued to yell, "Fuck you, fucker!" The officer repeatedly asked the student to place his hands on his head to which he replied, "Fuck you, douche bag!" Another officer arrived and helped put the student in handcuffs.
The officers observed the student slurring his speech. They said he had bloodshot eyes and the odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from his breath. He was not wearing his shoes and the bottoms of his feet were blackened with dirt. He did not have any identification.
At 1:05 a.m., he was placed under arrest for underage possession or consumption of an alcoholic beverage and was handcuffed, searched for weapons and placed in the backseat of a Campus Police car. The student was taken to Campus Police headquarters for processing. During the car ride he repeatedly shouted vulgarities and yelled, "Fuck you, wait 'til I get these cuffs off. Suck my dick."
At 1:10 a.m. he was placed into the holding room and handcuffed to the bench. He said he had consumed beer in Townhouses East. He was given a Miranda warning but was unable to sign due to his hostile demeanor. Around 4:10 a.m. he became violent and attempted to pull the handcuffs from the bench and made eight holes in the holding room wall with the heels of his feet and his head. While in the holding room he continued to yell, "I'm going to pull my hands out of these cuffs . then you're going to be sorry."
At 4:45 a.m. the student's mother arrived at Campus Police and attempted to calm him down. As she tried to talk to him, he kicked his feet at her and yelled, "No, fuck you too, get the fuck away from me!" Ewing police was contacted in order to help transport him to Capital Health Systems-Fuld Campus Crisis Center for evaluation.
While being transported he continued to be combative and was restrained on a gurney. When the ambulance arrived at the hospital, he yelled at the hospital staff, "Fuck you, you're a fucking douche bag, suck my dick, fuck all of you."
The student was issued a summons for underage possession or consumption of an alcoholic beverage, disorderly conduct and criminal mischief.
There is no further information at this time.
.
On Oct. 14 at 1:45 p.m. a student came to Campus Police headquarters to report that she had been harassed by another student who lived on her floor in New Residence Hall. She said between 3:15 and 3:45 a.m. the student had repeatedly knocked on her door and ran away. The victim said she told the accused to stop knocking on the door. He responded by yelling various insults at her, including "Slutbag," "Loser" and "Freakshow."
The victim said she then threatened to call ResEd and the accused ran down the hall and continued to yell at her. The victim reported the student to ResEd and called Campus Police. She said she had no prior incidents with him in the past and they had always been cordial and polite to each other. The victim said when the accused gets "drunk or high, he does annoy everyone on the floor."
The victim said she wants no further police action and will pursue the issue with ResEd.
There is no further information at this time.
(10/17/07 12:00pm)
Campus Police made accessible the 2006 crime statistics last week in accordance with the Clery Act of 1990, highlighting a drastic change in reported forcible sex offenses in the last few years.
In 2004 the College reported 16 on-campus sex offenses and 11 in 2005. Last year, however, only one sex offense was reported.
Other notable statistics released in the report include alcohol and drug violations at the College.
Liquor law violations increased from 676 in 2004 to 707 in 2005. Last year, they increased again to 772.
In contrast to the increase in liquor law violations, drug violations decreased from 59 in 2004 to 38 in 2005 and 26 last year.
Although the drop in sex offenses seems positive, College officials admit that the statistic is not representative of the actual number of sex offenses happening on campus.
"Our numbers are down dramatically this year, but that's only a positive development if the actual number of sexual assaults is down dramatically," Matt Golden, director of Communications and Media Relations, said. "We want our number reported to be as close to the number actually occurring as possible."
Jackie Deitch-Stackhouse, coordinator of the office of Anti-Violence Initiatives, agreed.
"It happens outside in society so we know it happens here," she said. Deitch-Stackhouse said the Sexual Assault Task Force has been assessing some of its programs and trying to hypothesize the reasons why the statistic dropped.
She said the task force is working on increasing peer education about these issues on campus. Some of the things they are working to include are a new marketing campaign that was launched over the summer as well as a bystander intervention program currently being administered to varsity athletes.
She said the office of Anti-Violence Initiatives is also working on a survey tool to be used during the Spring semester. The survey will assess student attitudes on sexual assault. The research from the survey will be analyzed and used to revamp some of the peer education programs.
Deitch-Stackhouse said the objective is for students to be able to come forward.
"We are really trying to do whatever we can to make it easier for victims to come forward," she said. "We want people to know this is something they can talk about."
"We have made victim support and empowerment as well as campus education about sexual assault a priority at (the College)," Golden agreed. "We want to prevent these crimes, and we want those who are victimized to report them and get the support they need."
Deitch-Stackhouse said if someone perpetrates once, he or she will probably do it again.
"We want to hold perpetrators responsible for their behavior," she said.
Other New Jersey colleges do not seem to be having the same problem.
Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, for example, has remained consistent with three forcible sex offenses in 2004, one in 2005 and two last year. Rowan University has remained consistent as well, with three reported in 2004, six in 2005 and two last year.
Princeton University's forcible sex offenses increased from six in 2005 to 17 in 2006, and Rider University's increased from two in 2005 to six in 2006.
Higher Education Institutions are required by law to report criminal offenses to the U.S. Department of Education by Oct. 1. The Clery Act is named after Jeanne Clery, who was raped and murdered in 1986 at Lehigh University.
(10/17/07 12:00pm)
A broken window was reported in Townhouses South at 3:45 p.m. on Oct. 2. A Campus Police officer met with a resident of South, who said she was in her residence at 3:30 p.m. when she heard a window break nearby. She said she went outside to see where the broken window was. She saw the rear window of one of the houses had been broken but there was no one outside or in the general area of the building.
She said the resident of the room was not present at the time the window broke. The student and the officer were then approached by another resident, who observed the broken window from his room as well.
An investigation revealed that the exterior piece of glass on the window was broken, not the interior. The landscape underneath of the windows is comprised of rocks but there were no rocks visible among the broken glass.
There is no further information at this time.
...
At 2 p.m. on Oct. 2 a victim reported a suspicious Asian male was following her.
The victim said that on Sept. 28 she was waiting for a bus at the NJ Transit bus stop between Brower Student Center and Lions' Stadium. She said the suspect got on the same bus and dropped a bag on her foot after she sat down to do some work. The suspect apologized and started talking to her. The victim said she continued to speak to him to be polite since she thought he might have a disability.
The victim said the suspect asked her at one point what the difference is between girls and boys, as well as some other questions, because he had to write a paper on the differences between boys and girls.
The victim said when she got off the bus in Trenton, he got off the bus as well. She said the suspect kept looking back as they both walked in the same direction to the train boarding station.
Just before the train was ready to leave, she got on board and saw the suspect, who also saw her. She walked through the train station and realized he had followed her to her seat. When he tried to talk to her again, she felt too uncomfortable in his presence so she ignored him and he eventually left.
The victim said she had seen a similar incident in The Signal so she decided to report it to Campus Police. She saw the suspect again on Oct. 1 in a class in Forcina Hall when he walked past her class without noticing her.
(10/10/07 12:00pm)
The Student Finance Board (SFB) fully funded the Indian Student Association (ISA) last Wednesday, unanimously awarding its request of $484 for the festival of Garba.
Garba will take place in Cromwell Hall lounge on Oct. 12 and will include dancing, music and Indian food.
$350 will go toward food for the event, which equates to about $8 per person.
Although about 40 students attended last year, ISA is hoping for a bigger turnout this year because it's free, according to Jasen Sood, ISA organizational representative.
"We want to get more than just Indian people to come out," he said.
ISA members said they are expecting about 60 students to attend. In a Facebook group set up for the event, there are 30 people who say they plan on coming.
Some SFB members expressed concern that ISA was underestimating the amount of people who would attend and might run out of food.
Others, however, reassured SFB members that there would be enough food for everyone.
"Some people are hungry, some people aren't," Student Government Association assistant representative Sheil Naik said. "If they have enough food for 60 people they could probably feed like 70."
"I think they just want a little taste," sophomore representative Darling Charles said. "They should be OK."
In addition to the cost of dinner, drinks, dessert and utensils, the money will cover sticks used for folk dancing, new CDs with modern Garba music and a centerpiece.
"Everyone's willing to help out," Natasha Nayak, ISA president, said. "It's a really good atmosphere."
Last week, the Asian American Association (AAA) received full funding for its request of $12,987 to have comedian Russell Peters perform during Experience Asia month in November.
The request of $12,987 was granted after AAA initially asked for and was denied $25,000 a few weeks ago. Peters' agent declined AAA's request to lower the price and Peters will not perform at the College. AAA is currently looking for other comedians to fill the void.
(10/10/07 12:00pm)
An electrical fire in one of the dryers on the first floor of Cromwell Hall caused a fire to start in the laundry room on Tuesday, Oct. 2 forcing students and staff to evacuate the building.
The fire alarm went off at 2 p.m. and students were allowed to re-enter the building between 3:30 and 3:45 p.m.
Re-entrance to the building was delayed because the fire department had to ventilate all the smoke that had collected in the hallway of the first floor.
No one was in the laundry room when the fire started, and there was no permanent damage done to the laundry room. However, the room was shut down for 24 hours while the faulty plug was replaced.
According to Elizabeth Spohr, Residence Director of Cromwell Hall, the response time of the students evacuating the building was surprisingly slow.
She said most students used the center stairway instead of the emergency exits closest to their rooms.
"We were pretty surprised at the response time of the students," Spohr said. "When an alarm goes off you have to assume that it's a real fire."
"In the future, we would like to see students exit the building much more swiftly using the appropriate exits," she said.
(10/10/07 12:00pm)
A Campus Police officer was dispatched to Wolfe Hall on Sept. 26 at 4:40 p.m. on a report of a poisoning attempt. The victim said between 12:30 p.m. on Sept. 24 and 3:20 p.m. on Set. 25 someone had put bleach in a lemonade bottle in her refrigerator.
The victim said she and her roommate had been having problems throughout the semester. She said there were several incidents where her roommate drank some of the beverages in the refrigerator, so she placed a lock on the refrigerator.
On Sept. 24 she did not fasten the lock. When she went to get a drink at 3:20 the next day, she noticed the bottle had been tampered with. There were scruff marks and gouges on it. She smelled the bottle before she drank it, and it had the distinct odor of bleach.
The officers then spoke to a Residential Education & Housing administrator, who was aware of the situation and that the girls had been to mediation in the past. She had spoken to the roommate, who denied putting anything into the bottle.
Leggett spoke to each student about the incident. At the end of the meeting, she felt there was no evidence to indicate who put the bleach in the bottle. She said she is allowing one of the girls to look for another living space. The student who filed the report said she may sign a complaint against her roommate for harassment in the future.
The officers collected the bottle as evidence.
There is no further information at this time.
A portable DVD player was stolen from a room in Travers Hall on Sept. 24 at 7:40 p.m. The victims told Campus Police they left their room locked at 5:15 p.m. and when they returned the room was still locked. When they entered the room, they found that the room had been ransacked and a portable DVD player was missing. Other items of value in the room, including laptop computers, cell phones and cash, were not taken.
One victim said $40 had been taken from his wallet while the room was locked on another occasion.
The gray Sony DVD player was valued at $100.
There is no further information at this time.
On Sept. 27 at 10:40 a.m. a Campus Police officer was dispatched to the New Library on report of criminal mischief. Debra Bailey, head of circulation, said that she received a report on Monday Sept. 24 that the word "Negros" was written in blue ink on the wall to the right of the elevator on the fourth floor. She said the word was six inches long and three inches high
Bailey immediately notified Paula Rainey, program assistant to the Dean of the New Library. The two took pictures of the word and then immediately cleaned it off the wall. Ms. Bailey said she was upset about seeing the word written so boldly in such a public place.
There is no further information at this time.
(10/03/07 12:00pm)
A theft of a Silver Apple MacBook Pro in Cromwell Hall was reported on Sept. 23. A Campus Police officer was dispatched to Cromwell at 12:05 p.m. Prior to arrival, the officer checked the surrounding area for any signs of the laptop but the search yielded no results.
The victim said while he was in the shower, someone stole the laptop off his desk. The victim said he left his room unsecured for approximately 15 minutes. When he returned, the laptop was gone.
The victim said he searched all areas of his room and any other areas where he might have misplaced the laptop but found nothing.
The total value stolen was $2,000.
There is no further information at this time.
.
A theft of a Dell Inspiron 520 from Travers Hall was reported on Sept. 22 at 11 a.m. The victim said he fell asleep with his laptop near his bed at 3 a.m. on Sept. 22. When he woke up at 9:30 a.m. the laptop was missing.
The victim said the door to his room was unlocked and that none of his other belongings were missing. The victim said he did not see anyone suspicious in the vicinity of the crime.
The total value of the stolen laptop was $1,500.
There is no further information at this time.
.
A Campus Police officer was dispatched to the Wolfe Hall lobby on Sept. 23 at 3:55 a.m. on a report of criminal mischief. Upon arrival, the officer spoke with the senior staff member on duty who told the officer that between 3 a.m. and 3:55 a.m. someone removed all the light bulbs and light diffuser panels from elevators two and three.
The officer then proceeded to the elevators to examine the damage. The officer did a search of the area for suspects but found nothing. The senior staff member said he heard from a Community Advisor on duty that a possible suspect lived in Wolfe Hall and said he was responsible.
Two officers went to the suspect's room at 4:05 a.m. The officers knocked on the door several times but no one answered. The officers noticed a message written on the dry erase board outside the room that said, "I hope you enjoy operation blackout."
The officers took pictures of the message and elevators two and three were turned off for safety.
There is no further information at this time.
(09/26/07 12:00pm)
The search to fi ll two new positions in the offi ce of Student Activities and Leadership Development is currently underway.
The positions are assistant director of Student Activities and associate director of Leadership Development. Three new positions will also be added in the department of Residential Education and Housing, according to Jim Norfl eet, vice president of Student Affairs.
The department of Residential Education and Housing, or ResEd, used to be known as the offi ce of Residential and Community Development, or ResLife.
According to Tim Asher, director of Student Activities and Leadership Development, the positions are being added because there is a shortage of personnel in the offi ce.
"I believe both student leaders and professional staff in our offi ce have been aware for some time that our human resources were stretched," Asher said.
Asher said Norfleet asked him last October to submit a vision for the offi ce of Student Activities and Leadership Development, as well as a staffi ng plan to achieve that vision.
Asher and Norfleet worked together on the plan throughout last fall. The official decision to add the new positions was made over the summer at a Board of Trustees meeting as part of the fi rst phase of the Student Affairs transformation.
The search for assistant director is currently underway and the associate director search will begin in October.
Norfl eet said he hopes to fi ll the assistant director position during this semester and the associate director position early in the Spring semester.
He said the search for the ResEd positions will begin in October.
"I am tremendously appreciative of the support I have received from vice president Norfl eet, (College President R. Barbara Gitenstein), (her) cabinet and the Board of Trustees as well as student leaders toward funding additional staff and initiatives on behalf of our offi ce for students," Asher said.
Norfleet added, "Our goal is to improve the (College) experience by providing more support for student activities, leadership development and residential education and housing."
(09/26/07 12:00pm)
On Sept. 14 at 9:35 p.m. three students were arrested for possessing and being under the influence of a controlled dangerous substance suspected to be marijuana. At 9:30, a Campus Police officer was dispatched to the Green Lane Fields bridge area on a report of a group of individuals smoking.
The officer observed three males standing at the east end of the bridge. The officer noticed the odor of burnt marijuana emanating from their clothes and breath and all three seemed disoriented and confused. All three were placed under arrest for being under the influence of a controlled dangerous substance believed to be marijuana.
The suspects were placed in handcuffs and patted down for weapons. The officer observed a suspicious object in the left front pocket of one of the suspects. The suspicious object was revealed to be a blue toothbrush holder containing residue of the substance.
The three suspects were transported to Campus Police headquarters.
There is no further information at this time.
...
A report of a suspicious person was filed by a Wolfe Hall resident on Tuesday Aug. 28 at 4:15 p.m. A Campus Police officer was on the eighth floor of Wolfe Hall investigating a call of drug use when a Community Advisor (CA) told the officer that her neighbor had been followed earlier that afternoon.
The victim spoke with the officer and said at 12:30 p.m. she was walking between Holman Hall and the New Library area when an individual approached her and asked if she had a car and if she could give him a ride. The victim said she did not as she was a freshman and could not have a car on campus. She said she was going to meet friends shortly.
The individual then followed her back to Wolfe Hall and followed her to her floor. He also said they should hang out together. The victim said her brother was waiting for her in her room and purposely walked past her room so he wouldn't know where her room was. The individual then broke off and stopped at her room where her door was open. He stuck his head in her room and said she had nice decorations in her room.
The victim was on the phone and did not pay the individual any attention, so he left after a few minutes.
The victim described the individual as an Asian male with a "no neck" appearance, 19 to 21 years old. The victim said she thought he was older and was dressing to look younger. The individual had short black hair and wore a blue tooth headset and a black shirt that said "Eh?" on the front, as well as jeans. The victim was advised to contact Campus Police immediately if the individual, or any other individual, frightens her in the future.
There is no further information at this time.
...
On Sept. 1 at 8:15 p.m. a student filed a report of harassment at Campus Police headquarters. The victim told an officer that she was receiving unwanted comments and attention from a student in Travers Hall.
The victim was posted in the Travers Hall lobby doing desk security on Aug. 31 when a male started harassing her. He made incoherent comments to her such as "Have you had any life-changing experiences?" and "Then you can't help me."
The victim said he was agitated and verbally aggressive while making his comments, then walked away in a visibly agitated state. He returned five minutes later and repeated the same behavior and comments. The victim said he returned a third time and said "Patience is a virtue," "What is a woman's intuition?" and "Well women may have women's intuition but guys have a third eye."
The victim sought guidance from the Assistant Residence Director (ARD) of Travers Hall on Aug 31. at 10 p.m. The ARD told her that the individual is socially awkward and that there was nothing they could do.
The individual repeated unwanted contact with her until the end of her shift at 11:30 p.m. The individual then tried to converse with her in the Travers Hall lobby but the victim refused to speak and left the area in anger.
The victim was posted at the Travers Hall desk on Sept. 1 with a Travers Hall CA when the individual approached and said, "I got it, I got it, we're all adults right?" and "We're all adults, we're all adults." He then left the area in an agitated state.
There is no further information at this time.
...
At 1:20 a.m. on Sept 2. a Campus Police officer was stationed on Green Lane, running radar facing east when the officer observed a green Buick traveling fast on Green Lane. The officer clocked the speed at 80 mph in a 30 mph zone. The officer pulled out to attempt to stop the vehicle but by the time the officer caught up to it, the vehicle had come in contact with several objects along Green Lane and came to rest.
As the officer went to check the status of the occupants in the accident, a female sitting on the passenger side of the vehicle called out for help and said someone had been ejected from the vehicle. As the officer approached the far side of the vehicle, the officer saw a male lying in the east bound lane motionless, bleeding profusely from the head, ears, nose and mouth.
Ewing EMS, Ewing Police Department and Ewing Fire Department responded to the scene.
There is no further information at this time.
(09/19/07 12:00pm)
A laptop was stolen on Sept. 5 between 6 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. from a first floor room in Townhouses West. At 9:15 p.m. a Campus Police officer was dispatched to West on a reported theft. The victim said someone entered her room through her window, damaging her screen, and removed her laptop.
The victim said when she left her room at 6 p.m. her door was locked but her window was open. When she returned at 9:05 p.m. she found her laptop and an Old Navy canvas bag missing. A search of the exterior of the building was conducted but turned up no results. An investigation revealed that the suspect entered the room by cutting or ripping the screen and bending the screen frame up from the bottom. The room was photographed and checked for fingerprints.
Campus Police conducted an investigation into why the security system did not respond and found that it was not operational.
At 9:50 p.m. a Campus Police Officer spoke with a resident of the first floor of Townhouses West who said she saw what she believed to be a male wearing khaki shorts walk by her window from the left to the right at 6:30 p.m. She said her blinds were only open 6 inches, so she only saw the lower half of the person.
The total value of the stolen laptop was $1,510.
There is no further information at this time.
...
Nine students were victims of a burglary in Packer Hall between 3:30 and 4:15 p.m. on Aug 28. An unknown person entered the locker room in Packer Hall and removed the personal belongings of nine basketball players.
At 4:45 p.m., a Campus Police officer was dispatched to Packer on report of a theft. Upon arrival, the officer met with Dean Glus, a Professional Services Specialist, and met with all nine of the victims. One of the victims said when he returned to the locker room he saw a suspicious white male between 5'6" and 5'8" with a beard and possibly wearing a black hat near the locker room.
The door to the locker had a keypad on it and a key override mounted to it. The door had no signs of forcible entry. Each student had their own code to enter the locker room, and all of the victims said they did not secure their lockers.
Eight wallets were stolen, along with 20 credit cards. The total amount of cash stolen was $775.
There is no further information at this time.
...
A theft was reported by a resident of Wolfe Hall on Sept. 9 at 9:40 p.m. The victim said several items had been removed from his room throughout the past five to seven days. The victim first noticed that his phone charger and his ear-bud headphones were missing five to seven days prior to filing the report. Between 5 p.m. on Sept. 8 and 2 a.m. on Sept. 9 he noticed his wallet and its contents were missing.
The victim said all of the items that were stolen were stored on the same shelf in his room. He said his room is often left unsecured and that he and his roommate have had multiple friends in the room at various times throughout the semester. However, the victim said he did not think his roommate or their friends had anything to do with the theft.
The victim said he searched all areas of his room as well as other areas where his property could have been misplaced but his search turned up no results.
There are no suspects or witnesses at this time.
The contents of the victim's brown leather Tommy Hilfiger wallet included $10, three miscellaneous bank cards and one N.Y. state driver's permit. The total value of the items stolen was $40.00.
There is no further information at this time.
.
A Campus Police officer was dispatched to Brower Student Center, Suite 230, at 2:10 p.m. on Aug. 31 on report of found property. A small clear plastic bag of green-brown vegetation, suspected to be marijuana, was found in front of the information booth at 2 p.m. The bag was taken to Campus Police Headquarters and locked in the evidence locker.
There is no further information at this time.
.
Four music books were stolen from a locker in the New Music building between 2:30 and 9:30 p.m. on Aug. 28. On Aug. 30 at 4:15 p.m. a Campus Police officer met with the victim, who said she secured her books in her locker at 2:30 p.m. on Aug. 28 with a combination lock. When she returned at 9:30 p.m. she observed her books were missing and her lock was still securely attached to the locker. The victim said her locker was in a swipe card access instrument locker room but was unsure of the room number.
There are no suspects or witnesses at this time. The total value of the stolen books was $120.
There is no further information at this time.
(09/12/07 12:00pm)
A theft was reported by the Residence Hall Association (RHA) on Aug. 26 at 10:30 a.m. A yellow and blue banner saying "Welcome to TCNJ Residence Hall Association" was removed from the front entrance of the College.
The banner was placed there by three RHA members on Aug. 23 at 8:30 a.m. At 10:30 a.m. on Aug. 24 an RHA associate reported the banner missing to RHA. RHA members did not report the theft until Aug. 26 because they wanted to ask around to see if an RHA associate had removed the banner, but this produced no results.
The stolen banner was worth $350.
There is no further information at this time.
...
On Aug. 14 at 10:30 a.m. a Dell model D600 laptop was reported stolen from Forcina Hall room 132. The room was being used for a presentation to the football team between 9:00 and 9:50 a.m. The occupants moved into room 134 and left the laptop unattended.
In addition to the laptop, a Dell wire supply, a network cable, a VGA cable and a mouse were stolen. The reported total value of the stolen items $1,386.00.
There is no further information at this time.
...
A student reported the theft of four textbooks from his room in Wolfe Hall on Aug. 27 at 12:45 p.m. The student realized the books were missing on Aug. 27 at 11 a.m. and last saw the books on Aug. 25 at 12 p.m., when he placed them on his desk in his room. The student lives in a single room and said he locks his door when he leaves the room, but leaves it unlocked while he is sleeping.
The total value of the stolen books was $355.60.
There is no further information at this time.
(09/05/07 12:00pm)
On Sept. 23, the College will be replacing its SquirrelMail e-mail system with Zimbra Collaboration Suite, which will provide students and faculty with a calendar option, more storage space and the ability to access e-mail from a mobile device.
Zimbra will also be replacing Meeting Maker, which is used by faculty and staff for scheduling.
According to Shawn Sivy, director of Networking and Technical Services in Information Technology (IT), both SquirrelMail and Meeting Maker function well, but Zimbra offers more features.
"While they individually do a good job, the College wants to move to the next step of an integrated e-mail/calendaring collaboration suite that provides additional features," he said in an e-mail interview.
Sivy mentioned features such as a more robust Web interface and support for mobile devices such as smartphones like the Motorola Q and Windows Mobile-based phones such as the Treo 700w. If a student has a smartphone, the student can configure the phone to access their e-mail and calendar from their phone.
In addition, students, staff and faculty will be able to share their calendars and collaborate with other Zimbra users.
Finally, Zimbra will provide more e-mail storage space, as IT will increase the storage space from 200MB to 250MB and monitor to see if more e-mail space can eventually be added.
Sivy said the cost of Meeting Maker is about the same as the cost of subscribing to Zimbra.
"In the end we are now getting more features and support for the same cost," he said.
Sivy said IT has been evaluating other e-mail packages over the past year and decided on Zimbra in May.
The conversion process began in June and will officially happen on Sept. 23.
"The switchover process is fairly straightforward," he said. "The training, documentation and help desk planning will be the most crucial part of the project."
Students are generally happy with the switch.
Jasen Sood, a junior psychology major, said he started forwarding e-mails to Gmail because he liked the features better.
"Maybe I'll give the school e-mail another shot now," he said.
Jamie Pernal, sophomore chemistry major, said she is excited for the switch.
"It would be nice to have other functions like a calendar available," she said.
Sivy said SquirrelMail will not be completely gone when the switch to Zimbra is complete.
"(SquirrelMail) will still be around for a bit until everyone transitions over," he said. "But once people start using the new Web interface, they won't want to go back."