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(04/28/16 1:26am)
By Sydney Shaw
Managing Editor
From cheap jewelry to pool parties to overthrowing the government, no joke was was off limits at Lion Latenight's second annual comedy competition on Friday, April 22. The three student comedians who took the floor in room 210 of the Brower Student Center managed to keep the audience laughing throughout the entire hour-long event.
The first comedian of the night, freshman open options arts and communication major Lauren Broadwell, took home first place and $100 for a set that largely focused on her sexuality.
“I don’t know if you’ve met a gay in your life, but that’s kind of all we are,” she said. “What’s my favorite sport? All of them because I’m really gay. Who is my favorite artist? Tegan and Sara... That’s a lie. My favorite artist is Taylor Swift, which is a pretty straight girl answer, but not when I sleep with her.”
Broadwell spun real-life anecdotes about discovering she is gay into hilarious jokes for the audience. She told the story of a pool party she attended in eighth grade, where her eyes landed on an attractive boy while she was sipping a piña colada in the hot tub.
“My mouth got really dry and it was getting harder to breathe… this must be what a crush is like,” Broadwell said. “It turns out I’m allergic to pineapple. I was having an allergic reaction.”
Next up was senior economics major Tom Barr, who began his set by congratulating Broadwell.
“Lauren, that was genuinely funny. That was awesome,” he said upon taking the floor. “But this is about me now.”
Barr launched into a set that included everything from startling the audience with shock comedy to pizza puns.
“I like Chicago style pizza a lot, but I’ll tolerate APA or MLA style pizza, as well,” he said.
Some of Barr’s jokes took a more literal turn.
“People don’t really give me the time of day,” he said. “I go up to people and ask them what time it is, and they don’t answer.”
Barr’s sarcastic humor and dry delivery earned him third place and $25.
Freshman economics major Sean Delanoy closed out the night, winning second place and $50.
“I’ve actually seen Tom do comedy a couple times,” Delanoy said of Barr as he took the floor. “I see a lot of myself in Tom… We’re both similar, we’re both tall, white and we both think I’m great.”
Delanoy told the audience that after he shaved his face for a job interview, many people didn’t recognize him.
“As it grew back, people would give me compliments, like, ‘Oh, I like that your beard is growing back,’” he said. “If you think about it, it’s kind of like, ‘Oh, I see less of you. That’s good.’”
Although people might see less of him now that his beard has grown back, and despite his “Gumby-like appearance,” Delanoy likes to consider himself a ladies man.
“…And ladies like to consider me a friend,” he said.
Afterwards, audience members had the opportunity to vote for their favorite student comedian. They, along with three student judges, declared Broadwell the winner.
“Lion Latenight hosts free events every Friday night during the semester in the (Brower) Student Center,” Assistant Manager for Event Operations and Guest Relations Karissa Czepiga said. “The last event of the semester is this Friday, April 29. It is a free Texas Hold 'Em tournament with $500 worth of prizes, (including) a flat screen television.”
(04/26/16 4:17pm)
By Sydney Shaw
Managing Editor
Living on campus without a car was quite frustrating during my first two years at the College. That all changed when Enterprise CarShare came to Campus Town. The program offers services and flexibility with which TCNJ Rideshare can never compete.
“Right now, we have the Enterprise car rental…” Political Science Department Chair and Associate Professor Brian Potter told The Signal, according to last week’s issue. “I think it’s underused, so Enterprise might pull it simply because it’s not profitable for them.”
After reading this quote, I began to fear that my new routine of renting the Enterprise car would come to an abrupt end, resulting in unexpected challenges for next semester.
Potter was advocating for TCNJ Rideshare, a new application that aims to push students to carpool with one another, reducing carbon emissions and allowing students without cars to get from point A to point B. TCNJ Rideshare is also free, while Enterprise has a registration fee and an hourly rate to rent a car.
I have yet to use TCNJ Rideshare, but I’ve utilized the Enterprise CarShare program often. Just this semester I’ve rented the Enterprise car several times to go grocery shopping. I’ve rented the car three times to drive to concerts and once to drive to an important interview. I’ve rented it on afternoons that my housemates and I were craving Chipotle and on late nights when someone suggested a spur-of-the-moment trip to the diner. I’ve even rented the car to drive to Staples so I could purchase ink for The Signal’s production.
The thoughtfulness involved in the development of TCNJ Rideshare is admirable, and perhaps if it gains popularity on campus, it could result in reduced carbon emissions. It will never effectively replace the Enterprise CarShare program, though.
I doubt I would have been able to find another student on campus to drive my friend and me to two different concerts on back-to-back nights in Philadelphia just this past weekend. When my housemates want to go out to dinner, I imagine it would be awkward and inconvenient to open the TCNJ Rideshare app, try to find someone who is also planning to go to the same restaurant at the same time and then drive there with strangers. It is far easier to rent the Enterprise car through its Website, walk to the car and drive away.
There used to be two Nissan vehicles available to rent through the Enterprise CarShare program in Campus Town. All semester, though, every time I’ve visited the Website to rent a car, only the Nissan Sentra — and not the Nissan Versa — is listed for rental. Whenever I walk past the designated Enterprise Carshare parking spots alongside Pennington Road, I only see the Nissan Sentra.
I’m not sure if the other car is always rented by someone else or if Enterprise has already scaled back its Campus Town CarShare program. If it is the latter, I hope the company doesn’t eliminate the program entirely. It is a cost-effective, easy way for students to leave campus independently and it can’t be replaced by a carpooling system.
Students share opinions around campus
Enterprise CarShare or TCNJ RideShare?
“The RideShare (app).”
“I think as of now, the RideShare (app) shows more appeal. It seems more causal, (and) it’s free.”
(04/19/16 3:47pm)
By Sydney Shaw
Managing Editor
What started as an anonymously-run Snapchat account with just a few followers has quickly exploded into a multipurpose platform for students from the College to share ideas, events and happenings around campus.
On Tuesday, April 12, tcnj.snap hit the 10,000 follower mark, a feat that the account’s manager, who requested to remain anonymous, never expected.
“It literally started with me just telling a couple of people, ‘Dude, have you checked out tcnj.snap?’ That’s all I had to do,” he said. “It really shows you the dynamic of how the school works. That’s all it takes to spread something to 10,000 people.”
Since its inception in October 2015, tcnj.snap has served as a platform for students and other followers to send in photos and videos, most of which are re-posted onto the tcnj.snap story.
According to the account’s manager, tcnj.snap is mainly run by three people — himself, a person who works with graphic design and a “tech guy.”
“I use the Snapchat app and another app downloaded from the app store that’s no longer available — that’s it,” he said. “A new app pops up every day. You just have to find one that actually works and stick with it because they’re constantly removed by Apple.”
According to the account’s manager, once someone sends in a snap, the rest of the process is quite simple.
“I open the snap and I transfer it to the other program,” he said. “If it’s a video, I have to re-type exactly what was said in the caption. I want it to be exact so people don’t get freaked out.”
He noted that an element of trust is vital to the success of tcnj.snap, since followers are sending photos and videos to someone they know nothing about.
“I work very hard to break down the barrier that anyone would have approaching a stranger,” he said. “I want people to perceive this Snapchat not as a person, but as a tool they can use. So it almost takes out the human component completely, and that right there makes people more willing to trust that approach instead of some stranger posting snaps.”
Considering the number of followers tcnj.snap has garnered over the past six months, it’s safe to say his approach is working well.
“It has already surpassed the number of followers of official TCNJ social media platforms,” he said. “It’s terrifying because I know everything I post is reflecting the values and culture of TCNJ. Basically, all of us are actively representing our school and I want to do it in a very positive way.”
One of the positive ways he promotes the College is through digital “talent shows,” during which students submit photos or videos of themselves or their friends performing some kind of talent. So far, there have been submissions of students singing, dancing and even pogo-sticking.
He then re-posts the content and temporarily puts the videos on YouTube. Followers can watch all of the videos and vote for their favorite acts by going to the SurveyMonkey.com link that the account’s manager shares through the tcnj.snap story.
“Whoever gets the most votes gets a $50 Amazon gift card,” he said. “The winner of the first talent show was (junior electrical engineering major) Augusto Maia, a.k.a. ‘Guy Playing Adele.’ The submission deadline is coming up for our second talent show and we’re seeing triple the amount of submissions. It’s really catching on.”
The account’s manager sends the Amazon gift card, which he pays for out of pocket, to the winners via email.
“I have an appreciation for art and music and anyone who does something interesting. I think that’s part of the reason tcnj.snap exists,” he said. “If you have something you’re proud of that you want to share, you should be able to do that.”
Besides the talent shows, though, the account’s manager said he does not interfere with the content of tcnj.snap.
“I haven’t really done anything to ask for snap suggestions. I’ve let it grow organically over time,” he said. “The students here are so smart. They’re coming up with all these ways of using it that I never would have imagined. They’re using it as a lost and found for IDs, for messaging, for conveying info, like ‘There’s a bake sale in the Stud, come get it!’ To see it maturing as a platform is so cool.”
The account’s manager called tcnj.snap “an evolution of Yik Yak,” but noted that since Yik Yak is location-based, students can’t accomplish as much through that application as they can by using tcnj.snap.
“Our goal, when it comes down to it, is to convey a sense of what’s happening around campus in real time to whoever is watching it,” he said. “I kid you not, there are people from around the world that follow the account… I get snaps from Barcelona, I get snaps from Florence, I get snaps from Brazil. It is crazy to think that within seconds of re-posting something, hundreds of people have seen it from all over the world.”
That means people from all over the world watched in almost-live-time as students from the College clamored to the library in January and February to search for the $100 Chipotle gift card that tcnj.snap’s account manager purchased and hid.
“The reactions we initially got were ‘You guys are crazy’ to ‘There’s no way in hell they actually did that,’” he said. “People thought we were kidding, but we never are. We want everything posted on the snap to be light and fun, but at the same time, we want the content to be taken seriously. We want a sense of legitimacy.”
He hid the gift card in a book called “Pigs Can Fly” and said people were searching for the prize for about a week before he finally announced a hint through tcnj.snap.
“I gave a subtle hint at 2:30 p.m. one day, and by 3:05 p.m., it was found,” he said.
Since reaching the 10,000 followers milestone, he has been looking to the future and imagining new potential for the tcnj.snap account.
“We’re going to bring a mass messaging feature to tcnj.snap, so within a couple of seconds, we can send something to 10,000 people — it will probably be more by the time we roll it out,” he said. “I want to really treat it with care, though, because people don’t want to get a message every five minutes saying, ‘Check this out!’”
Despite the account’s popularity, its manager sees it as a work in progress and noted some bumps in the road during its early stages.
“In the beginning, we would occasionally re-post people’s stories without asking them,” he said. “Some people thought that was really cool, like hand-picked snaps, but there was a very vocal group of people who didn’t appreciate it at all. They almost felt like it was an invasion of privacy. Looking back on it, it really was… We’re not the NSA and we’re never going to do that again. We only re-post snaps that are sent directly to us.”
Another conflict came in the form of another Snapchat account, tcnj_snap.
“It’s not run by us,” said the tcnj.snap account manager. “It’s almost like another means of entertainment. It’s not real and I have no idea who these people are. What ticks me off is that for anyone who doesn’t know which one is the real one, it’s tarnishing our brand. I’ve actually thought about changing our name to not be affiliated with them anymore.”
The “rogue” account, tcnj_snap, often re-posts snaps that feature nudity, underage drinking and drug use.
Regardless of any difficulties the tcnj.snap team has faced, the account’s manager is excited about how far they have come in such a short time.
“There is such a huge potential for it that I never realized,” he said. “Prospective students subscribe and they occasionally send in snaps. They can actually see what TCNJ is like and I think they can get a somewhat-accurate tour of the College just by looking at the snap story.”
While tcnj.snap can benefit students who don’t yet attend the College, the account manager said it can also serve as an asset to students who have already graduated.
“When people graduate, they can use this snap story to instantly feel connected to the school whenever they miss it,” he said. “This can be used for alumni retention, for reaching out and giving updates to them.”
The Snapchat account requires so much commitment to upkeep that the account’s manager actually purchased a new phone for the sole purpose of running tcnj.snap.
“My phone is out of my pocket maybe once every 30 seconds,” he said. “I get anywhere from 800 to 1,000 snaps on a good day, but usually it is around 500… There have been nights where I’ve dreamed in snaps. I’ve dreamed in 10-second intervals. That’s how much time I dedicate to this.
“I do plan on continuing it for as long as I can, and when I can’t anymore, I’ll find someone with a steady hand and someone I trust to keep the essence of the snap.”
Throughout it all, though, the account manager still wishes to remain anonymous.
“I want the main focus to be the snap itself and how it connects everyone together on campus. It’s about awareness of each other,” he said. “The reason I don’t identify myself is because the second I do that, there are instantly connections made with me, instead of with each other.”
(03/10/16 9:21pm)
By Sydney Shaw
Managing Editor
“I’ve never played by myself before, so I don’t know if this will be any good,” Brian Sella said as he took the stage to headline CUB Alt’s show on Tuesday, March 8. “I’m in a band called The Front Bottoms. That’s how we usually play, but tonight, it’s just me.”
After only the first song, “Twelve Feet Deep,” it became clear that Sella performing solo on stage is just as striking as the usual four-piece model of his Jersey-based band, sans the keys, drums, bass and trumpet.
Students helped to replace the missing instruments throughout the evening by clapping the backbeat to “The Beers” in place of Ciaran O’Donnell’s keys and singing backup vocals for “Maps” as Sella smiled through the chorus.
“Most of these songs are about college,” he told the audience in the Lion’s Den food court.
When Sella was in college in 2007, he started The Front Bottoms with drummer Mat Uychich. Two years later, they independently released the album “My Grandma vs. Pneumonia.”
“We’re going to revisit the ‘Grandma’ series,” Sella told The Signal before the show.
He played “Flying Model Rockets” from that particular release, as well as a refreshing mix of songs from the band’s back catalog. One song Sella didn’t play, though, is a track released just the day before he visited the College — “Noodle Monster.”
“We recorded that in Switzerland,” Sella told The Signal.
Uychich, who came along to support Sella during his first solo performance, said the song was recorded during soundcheck for the show “Portlandia.” Season 6, episode 10 of the show bears the same name as the band’s new song. The episode is set to air on Thursday, March 24.
“I think a lot of people are confused by it,” Uychich said through laughter.
The song, which was released on Fueled by Ramen’s YouTube channel, peaks when Sella eerily whines, “It’s a noodle monster, baby.”
The Front Bottoms signed to the label Fueled by Ramen in June 2015 after spending four years with Bar/None Records.
“I think it’s easier now to do our crazier ideas than it was before,” Uychich told The Signal. “They let us kinda do what we want to do and they just let us have fun.”
Sella appeared to have fun as he slid around the stage in black socks. He has earned himself a reputation for performing shoeless — during the College’s Fall Concert in 2014, Sella donned a pair of rainbow, striped socks.
He brought along a batch of 50 red lighters with “Sella” printed on the side, which were available to purchase for $5 each.
“You’re all going to be rich one day and you’re not even going to remember that lighter, but it’ll help me out a lot right now,” Sella said. All 50 lighters sold out by the end of the night.
Before he left, the singer showcased his knack for storytelling with the song “Handcuffs,” which was released last April on a split record with GDP entitled “Liberty and Prosperity.”
“But with my pain came rage, a light so bright I feel blind,” Sella sang. “So I reach with my hands and a rock is what I do find. He stops for a moment, I gather my strength, just enough to swing quickly and put the rock right through his face.”
Sella told The Signal that he wants to start telling stories in a medium other than songwriting.
“I’m gonna write a book and do an audiobook along with it,” he said. “I’m going to soundscape it and we’ll see what happens… It’s just a fictional story about nothing, basically.”
The College may have said “Au Revior” to the singer-turned-author, but Sella and The Front Bottoms will be on tour through the end of May. The band is also in the lineup for Coachella in Indio, Calif., in April.
“It feels good,” Sella said. “We’re just going to keep doing what we love — touring and making music.”
(03/01/16 9:45pm)
By Sydney Shaw Managing Editor
Imagine this: several freshmen decide to spend the night partying in a Travers Hall dorm room. It is just after midnight when they realize that one of their friends has had a bit too much to drink. Eventually, she starts vomiting and it becomes apparent that she needs medical attention. Her friends are worried for her safety, but don’t want to get into trouble themselves. After all, every student present is under the legal drinking age.
What should they do?
For a freshman health and exercise science major named James, this was not a hypothetical moral dilemma. It was a real decision he was faced with on the evening of Saturday, Jan. 31.
To remove hesitation to call for medical assistance in the event of an emergency related to alcohol, many colleges have a “Good Samaritan Policy” in place. Also known as “amnesty,” it is a life-saving measure designed to encourage students to call for help by removing the possibility of punishment for doing so, even if the caller and the student in danger are both under the legal drinking age.
According to Director of Residential Education Tina Tormey, there are two separate amnesty policies that can apply at the College — Lions 911 Lifeline Legislation, which is how campus administrators handle incidents involving alcohol or drugs, and NJ 911 Lifeline Legislation, which is how Campus Police handles the criminal side of an alcohol- or drug-related incident.
Lions 911 Lifeline Legislation reads, “The College’s highest priority is the physical and mental health, safety and well-being of individual students and the campus community. Therefore, no student seeking medical attention by contacting either College or local authorities for intoxication (nor a student who seeks medical attention on behalf of the affected student) will be formally charged for the unlawful use or possession of alcohol.”
Once they realized their friend was in danger, James and his friends called TCNJ EMS for help.
“I had known of the Good Samaritan law, but I didn’t know how the school would handle it,” James said.
Once TCNJ EMS arrived, he said that Travers Hall Residence Director Nailah Brown and patrolling community advisors (CAs) came to the room. James’s friend was transported to the hospital for medical attention.
“(Brown) saw empty containers,” James said. “She didn’t know that we had helped call EMS, but we told the other CAs that were with her that we did.”
Another section from the College’s Student Conduct page reads: “Those who call for help or need such help will not be subject to charges otherwise triggered by violation of laws dealing with underage drinking.”
Although James and his friends were not subjected to criminal charges, he said they were still documented, or “doc’ed,” by Brown and the CAs who came to his door.
“If a student is ill due to alcohol or drugs, we respond as we would in any other case involving alcohol or drugs,” Tormey said. “We document the case so we have it on record and so that we can refer to it when we meet with the students involved. We want there to be some kind of follow up to check that there are no lingering health issues from the incident.”
James said that his amnesty meeting was with Christine Nye, the College’s assistant director of First Year Experience.
“(She) said that the doc wouldn’t go on our records, but that we needed to go to ADEP (Alcohol and other Drug Education Program) still,” James said.
ADEP at the College stresses personal responsibility and an understanding of the consequences of using alcohol and other drugs, according to the program’s website.
“Students qualifying under the amnesty policy may be referred to the Alcohol and other Drug Education Program (ADEP) for an evaluation and/or additional education,” the College’s amnesty policy reads. “Such referrals or assignments will be kept on file and failure to successfully complete such may result in disciplinary action through the formal student conduct process.”
For some students, a referral to ADEP might seem like a punishment, meanwhile, the purpose of amnesty is to reduce consequences for students in order to encourage them to call for help.
“I hope students look at their time (in ADEP) as an opportunity to reflect and learn from their situation, not as a punishment,” said Joe Hadge, assistant director of ADEP.
Hadge said that ADEP is free and totally confidential for students who utilize the program. He went on to explain the process of assisting students who are referred to him after an alcohol-related incident.
“My first question for a student is ‘What’s your biggest problem right now?’” Hadge said. “Sometimes, they were arrested, they haven’t told their parents yet and they’re afraid of losing housing privileges. It’s all about listening and figuring out the best plan for them.”
Hadge said that students in ADEP, and students at the College in general, can use eCheckup To Go, a brief self-assessment on the ADEP website that provides them with information about their personal alcohol use and risks.
“It is a chance for them to safely and non-judgementally be able to reflect on their alcohol use,” Hadge said. “And when in doubt, always call for help.”
The College’s amnesty policy goes on to read, “…the effort to seek help for the affected student may be a mitigating factor in sanctioning. Affected students may be required to complete an evaluation or other education programs, but will not face disciplinary charges or sanctions as prescribed through the student conduct process.”
Some students might find the wording confusing. While the first sentence outlines that a student’s effort to seek help for someone else may be a “mitigating factor in sanctioning,” the second sentence explicitly states that a student will “not face… sanctions” from the College.
So, which is it?
According to Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP), an international non-profit advocacy and education organization, a comprehensive Good Samaritan Policy should include “a clearly worded, easily accessible, effectively enforced policy which is well known among the student body, campus administration and campus public safety officers.”
Nye said that the College’s amnesty policy is well-known among campus administrators.
“The professional staff with Residential Education are trained in regards to the College’s Amnesty Policy,” she said. “However, our protocol for response to an alcohol- or drug-related incident is the same regardless of whether it does or does not fall under the College’s Amnesty Policy or 911 Lifeline Legislation… 911 Lifeline Legislation applies to criminal conduct and has slightly different definitions and different people responsible for determining (those definitions).”
According to Tormey, determining whether or not an incident falls under the College’s amnesty policy is simple.
“We just ask, ‘Did someone seek help for that person because they feared for that person’s safety?’” she said.
Tormey clarified that a student who is underage and under the influence of alcohol or drugs would not fall under amnesty if someone calls to report them for noise or hygiene complaints. It only applies to students whose health or safety is at risk
To qualify for amnesty in the eyes of campus administrators, help can be sought from CAs, Campus Police and TCNJ EMS, among other safety outlets. The criminal amnesty policy handled by Campus Police has similar qualifications, according to John Collins, the College’s chief of police.
“The law provides immunity from criminal prosecution for both the caller and the victim when medical attention is needed due to excessive drinking, provided certain conditions are met,” Collins said. “Those conditions are that one of the underage persons with the victim calls 911, that they stay with the victim until help arrives and that they cooperate with the responding medical personnel and/or police.”
Collins clarified that students are not restricted to just dialing 911 to qualify for amnesty — they can also dial Campus Police’s number (609-771-2345) from any phone, as well as the extension 2345 from any campus phone, to request help.
“The fact of the matter is they are trying to get help for someone in need, so we consider that eligible for immunity, regardless of the actual phone number that was used to request help, provided the other conditions were met,” Collins said. “The same should apply if a student called a CA and asked them to get medical help.”
Collins said that the College’s amnesty policy is rarely utilized by students.
“We haven’t been tracking amnesty situations,” he said, “but generally speaking, there haven’t been too many of them.”
James is grateful, though, that he was able to use amnesty to get help for his friend.
“(Nye) was very appreciative that we helped our friend and said hopefully, if it happened again, we would do the same thing and call (for help),” James said. “But she said that if we were to get doc’d again, they could take this incident into consideration,”
Regardless of whether or not the College amends its amnesty policy to be more transparent, James hopes that students will always put a friend’s safety first.
“Everyone fears the unknown to some extent,” he said. “If students were aware that there isn’t really a serious consequence for helping a friend, I believe that there will be more calls and hopefully more lives saved.”
Tormey stressed that in the future, students should make an effort to have at least one sober friend with them when they choose to use alcohol or drugs.
“It’s important to have a sober friend around to make decisions for you when you can’t,” she said. “It doesn’t just apply to designated drivers. If you surpass the point where you can’t make a good decision for yourself, you need someone around who can, even if you’re just drinking in a dorm room.”
(02/18/16 1:49am)
By Sydney Shaw
Managing Editor
At the College, students can see Valentine’s Day coming from a mile away. Cupcake grams from She’s the First went on sale, alongside a slew of other treats that other organizations sold for students to buy for their Valentines. There were a number of Valentine’s Day dances and concerts throughout the week. Ink hosted a coffeehouse on Friday, Feb. 12, to celebrate the holiday. From the comfort of campus, students could purchase roses, carnations, cards and boxes of chocolate wrapped in pink paper. They could even send loved ones a personalized singing gram.
While there is never a shortage of February festivities, this might be a lonely time of year for students who didn’t have a special someone to share the couple-centric holiday with. For those individuals, my word of advice is this: The idea that Valentine’s Day is only meant to celebrate romantic love is as dead as Saint Valentine himself.
I’m not suggesting that students in relationships ignore their significant others to go out with their friends next Feb. 14, but rather reminding them that there are so many people in our lives who might not always receive the appreciation they deserve, whether it be parents, siblings, friends, and yes, significant others. But whether or not you are in a relationship, use Valentine’s Day as an excuse to shower all the people you love with some extra affection.
And if you’re not in a relationship, that’s just as well. If you don’t have a significant other to whom to send chocolates, send your best friend a candy gram. If there is nobody around to cook you a candlelit dinner next year, just do what I did this Sunday, Feb. 14: splurge at a fancy restaurant with your housemates and watch as many rom-coms together as you can when you get home. If you can make it through the other 364 days of the year solo, Valentine’s Day should be no different.
Most importantly, though, on this day meant to celebrate love, don’t forget to love yourself first. Your relationship with yourself is the most paramount one you’ll ever have, so feel free to spend next Valentine’s Day doing something special just for you. Put on your favorite music and spend a relaxing night in. Order your favorite food and watch your favorite movie. I’d call it a “non-traditional” holiday celebration, but ultimately, there is no “correct” way to spend Valentine’s Day.
Every Valentine’s Day from here on out, remember that there is no need to wear black in protest of the lovers’ holiday, even if you’re single. Deck yourself out in shades of red and pink and celebrate love in all its beautiful forms — romantic love, familial love, friend love and self love.
(02/18/16 1:21am)
By Sydney Shaw
Managing Editor
Service arrangements for Jeremy Wasserman, the alumnus from the College who passed away on Wednesday, Feb. 10, have been announced, according to an email sent to College faculty, staff and students on Tuesday, Feb. 16.
Wasserman’s funeral will be held on Thursday, Feb. 18, at 11 a.m. at Jewish Memorial Chapel, located at 841 Allenwood Road in Clifton, N.J.
Following the burial, a luncheon will be held at 168 Ascension Street in Passaic, N.J., College spokesperson Dave Muha wrote in the email announcement.
At that same address, family and friend visitation will be held on Thursday, Feb. 18, and Saturday, Feb. 20, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Feb. 21, at 2 p.m., according to Wasserman’s obituary on northjersey.com.
Wasserman, a criminology major, was described as having an “upbeat personality” and “infectious smile” by James Napoli, a senior English and secondary education dual major and the president of the College’s Club Bowling team, of which Wasserman was a member.
So far, there has been no word on the cause of Wasserman’s death, but according to Mercer County Prosecutor's Office spokesperson Casey DeBlasio, an autopsy has been completed and the results are pending further study.
“There didn’t appear to be anything suspicious surrounding this,” DeBlasio said.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Pompton Lakes Boy Scouts, Alpha Chi Rho fraternity, Chabad House at the College or Congregation Beth Shalom in Pompton Lakes, N.J., according to the obituary.
(02/12/16 2:22pm)
By Sydney Shaw
Managing Editor
According to an email sent to College faculty, staff and students on Thursday, Feb. 11, alumnus Jeremy Wasserman died in his off-campus apartment in Ewing, N.J., on Wednesday, Feb. 10.
The cause of his death is still under investigation, pending further study by the medical examiner, according to the email.
Wasserman, a criminology major, graduated in December 2015.
“(Jeremy) was an active member of student life at the college,” President R. Barbara Gitenstein wrote in the email announcing his death.
Originally from Pompton Lakes, N.J., Wasserman was a member of the College’s bowling team and a brother of Alpha Chi Rho (AXP), according to College spokesperson Dave Muha. According to the AXP website, Wasserman was tasked with incorporating safety and risk management-related precautions into AXP’s programs as the risk management chair on the fraternity's executive board.
Rabbi Akiva Greenbaum announced via Facebook that the Shabbat on Saturday, Feb. 13, would be dedicated to Wasserman.
There will be a day service beginning at 11:30 a.m., followed by lunch at 1 p.m. in the Chabad House, located at 44 Chauncey Ave. in Ewing, N.J.
“Together with students, faculty, family and friends, we mourn the passing of a sweet and dear Jewish soul,” Greenbaum wrote in a post. “Jeremy Wasserman was a first class mentsch who inspired us with a sense of responsibility to help others.”
Wasserman’s friends also remember him as an overwhelmingly positive force in their lives.
“The TCNJ Club Bowling Team is deeply saddened by the loss of our teammate,” President James Napoli said. “Throughout his four years on the team, Jeremy was a dedicated student, competitor, e-board member, teammate and friend. His upbeat personality, sense of humor and infectious smile were constants at our practices and tournaments.”
Even those who didn’t know Wasserman too well were struck by his charisma.
“Each time I met him, he had a smile and we were able to exchange a few words,” said Mylin Batipps, a 2015 alumnus of the College. “I only met him three times… he was just so friendly and easygoing. He was lighthearted and didn't take everything too seriously, which was something I admired.
“It says a lot that someone can leave such a lasting positive impression on you, even though that person has only been a part of your life for a few moments,” Batipps said.
The College first sent out an email and made phone calls announcing Wasserman’s death to faculty and students in the criminology department prior to sending out the campus-wide email announcement, according to Muha.
“The College, just generally as a practice, works to reach out to those who might have known the individual in order to give them a heads up and to offer support,” he said.
Gitenstein’s email detailed the resources the College has available for students and faculty struggling with this loss: Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), TCNJ Clinic and TCNJ Campus Police, as well as the Employee Assistance Program for employees of the College.
“Staff members from Counseling and Psychological Services are reaching out to Jeremy's roommates and friends,” Gitenstein wrote in her email. “If you are concerned about someone (students, staff or colleagues), please reach out to the resources above. It’s OK to ask for help.”
Wasserman is the second student from the campus community to die this year. Junior computer science major Daniel Thielke died by suicide on Saturday, Sept. 19.
In the aftermath of tragedies such as these, administrators at the College stress the importance of offering support to fellow students who may be struggling to cope.
“It is incredibly sad,” Muha said. “We lost somebody who just earned their degree a couple of months ago and was really at the beginning of their life with so many doors open to them. It’s a tragic loss.”
General Counseling Resources
Resources for Students:
Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS)
Eickhoff Hall 107
609-771-2247
Hours: Monday–Friday, 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
TCNJ Clinic
Forcina Hall 124
609-771-2700
Hours: Monday 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Tuesday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-9 p.m.
TCNJ Campus Police
Contact Campus Police by dialing 911 from any campus phone or 609-771-2345 from a cell phone.
Resources for Employees at the College:
Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
Forcina Hall 124
609-771-2139
After hours: 609-571-0677
(02/03/16 4:52pm)
By Sydney Shaw
Managing Editor
To cap off the first week of the semester, the College was treated to an explosive performance by the “Turn Up God” at the College Union Board’s Welcome Back Concert on Saturday, Jan. 30. Rapper Waka Flocka Flame took the stage in Kendall Hall, commanding the audience with his lyrical finesse, effortless dance moves and charismatic smile.
It was only appropriate that Waka Flocka opened the night with “Wild Out,” a Borgore track from 2013 that highlights the rapper’s beginnings with electronic dance music.
“When I learned electronic music, I wasn’t in America. I was in Europe for… four months listening to, like, deep house, dirty house, Dutch style… that’s how I learned it,” Waka Flocka told The Signal in a pre-show interview. “When I got to America… America was liking the shit Europe was liking five years ago.”
Waka Flocka returned to the U.S. with a new style of music that he learned to blend with the rap technique for which he had become notorious. His first mixtape of 2015, “The Turn Up Godz Tour” with DJ Whoo Kid, showcased his new knack for incorporating electronic elements in his music.
Since that collaboration, Waka Flocka has dropped two more mixtapes — “Salute Me Or Shoot Me 5” in April and “Flockaveli 1.5” in November.
“I feel like mixtapes are albums,” Waka Flocka told The Signal. “At the end of the day, an album... just gets more technical because you gotta go by corporate standards. You gotta prepare for this day, two months down the line, and maybe the music don’t sound the same in two months. So that’s why, in my opinion, people prefer mixtapes — because it’s right then and there. It’s the feeling.”
Waka Flocka also said he enjoys that mixtapes allow him to collaborate more often with other artists, such as his 2012 collaboration with Machine Gun Kelly. The brainchild of that pairing was the fierce track “Wild Boy.”
During that particular song, Waka Flocka jumped off stage to sing, weaving his way up and down the aisles of Kendall Hall for a more intimate performance.
He followed that stunt up with 2010’s “Hard in da Paint” from his first studio album, “Flockaveli.” The track arguably put him on the map and earned him air time on big-name radio stations across the country.
Fans anticipated “Flockaveli 2” to drop in 2013, but when it didn’t, they took to Twitter to demand its release.
“(When I was in Europe), somebody stole my cameraman’s bag with like 14 videos, both albums — ‘Flockaveli 2’ and the sequel to the album that was gonna drop 45 days after the album, for free,” Waka Flocka told The Signal. “Ended up losing my fucking hard drive. Lost all my music.”
He recovered from the loss of his album by throwing himself into the Aokify America Tour with electronic artist Steve Aoki.
“His dad was, like, Benihana,” Waka Flocka told The Signal of his tourmate, “and I see Steve’s fucking throwing cakes.”
Aoki made a name for himself by throwing cakes at concert-goers, a trend he has since reserved for headline shows.
“I saw that and I thought, ‘Ok, these are my kind of people,’” Waka Flocka said.
The night wouldn’t have been complete without his most famous track, “No Hands,” during which Waka Flocka grabbed a front-row fan’s phone, mid-video recording, and danced around the stage with it. The crowd pulsed under the colorful strobe lights to the beat of the song’s chorus: “Girl the way you movin’ got me in a trance, DJ turn me up, ladies this yo jam...”
Waka Flocka kept the energy up by launching straight into “Round of Applause,” a 2012 track featuring Drake, and he threw it back to 2010 with the hit “Grove St. Party.”
Before he took the stage, Waka Flocka told The Signal that he’d rather be remembered as a real guy than a respectable rapper, and he showed that authentic side of him when he ended the night with the track “How It Feel” from “Flockaveli 1.5.”
“They don’t know how I feel,” he sang, cross-legged on the floor, illuminated only by fans’ cell phone flashlights.
As for how he feels about the College, Waka Flocka made that patently clear in his pre-show interview with The Signal: “I can’t wait to come back.” Until then, students will remember that the Brick Squad and Waka Flocka Flame laid the groundwork for an unforgettable semester.
Thanks to LTV for filming the interviews.
(12/01/15 10:17pm)
By Sydney Shaw
News Editor
Please forgive them, they want to go home.
All past and present members of River City Extension returned to the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, N.J., for their sold-out, sixth annual Simple Gifts Thanksgiving Eve show. The evening marked the last time the indie-folk unit from Toms River, N.J., would play together as a band.
River City Extension’s sundry compilation of guitars, basses, violins, keys, a cello, a viola and percussion has proved to be a powerful presence across the band’s eight years, propelling it from the shore scene onto the national stage. In a performance that was both heart-rending and wildly exuberant, the longtime friends wasted no time once they began their show on Wednesday, Nov. 25.
“We recently put out a record called ‘Deliverance,’” frontman Joe Michelini told the crowd. “And here it is.”
With that, the band launched into its latest LP, playing all 10 songs in order.
“The right thing to do was to play ‘Deliverance’ all the way through,” Michelini said in a phone interview with The Signal after the show. “We felt like that record’s cycle got cut short, but it’s not like that, either... I think it ended at the right time.”
The first track, “Something’s Gotta Give,” is reminiscent of ’70s rock ‘n’ roll, complete with electric guitar and a toe-tapping rhythm.
“Ohio” was a standout as a raucous singalong, while “I’m Not There” opened with Patrick O’Brien’s melancholic keys and Michelini’s crooning.
“I watch my family growing older, I brace my body for the tide,” he sings on the track.
Enter Shane Luckenbaugh on drums as the song builds, while Megan Yost's elegant viola playing provides a beautiful backdrop through the bridge.
Notwithstanding its artistic strengths, “Deliverance” failed commercially, a contributing factor in the band’s decision to call it quits.
“If the band had seen some sort of wild success, then we would continue to play every song on ‘Deliverance’ for years, but that wasn’t the case,” Michelini told The Signal.
A more significant blow, however, struck in December 2014 when 27-year-old drummer Steve Tambone died suddenly. While Yost played a soaring salute on the viola, the rest of the band placed their respective instruments down and turned to face the vacated drumset.
“Everyone has their own demons,” Michelini said through tears during the show. "But my memory of Steve is perfect. I hope you all remember him that way.”
Michelini announced the band’s final show via social media on Tuesday, Sept. 8.
“This is just the end of our first big art project,” he told The Signal. “We did River City Extension. We put out four records and toured the world. Now it’s time for us to do something else. Calling it ‘River City Extension’ was hurting us more than it was helping us because so much had changed.”
Throughout the evening, a pensive Michelini reflected on the band’s history, from breaking into the scene to pouring his heart into the band’s fourth record. Years back, River City Extension opened for the folk rock outfit The Avett Brothers, a show Michelini remembers as a pivotal point in the early years of his music career.
“I heard their songs and I was blown away,” he said. “I thought, ‘I could write a song like that,’ so I went home and wrote this song.”
Michelini was right. When he stepped up to the mic and began “If I Still Own a Bible,” the track reduced hundreds of fans to tears.
“I wonder if I still own a Bible,” he sang. “If my fingerprints still sit on that page — the one about love, and why it’s so patient, and why I have lost it with age.”
Over the years, 15 members have performed under the umbrella of River City Extension. At its largest, in 2010, the band released its third record, “The Unmistakable Man.” That LP was released between the “Nautical Sabbatical” EP in 2009 and “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Your Anger” in 2012.
The bubbly ditty “Elephant” was the only track off of “Nautical Sabbatical” to sound through the Stone Pony during the second part of the show, but an even mix from their other two records sent fans into a rock ‘n’ roll rave. It was also the band’s final song before the musicians disappeared backstage.
Asbury Park wasn’t ready to let them go so soon, though. Chants begging for “one more song” summoned the folkers back for an epic encore.
“For the first time ever together on stage, please welcome the Unmistakeable Band,” Michelini said, using the affectionate nick-
name bestowed upon the band after the release of its third record.
The encore included, appropriately, “Ballad of Oregon,” as Michelini sang, “One more time, singing over the line...” The familiar vocals of Sam Tacon dovetailed against Michelini’s, for just one more time.
The penultimate performance of the evening was “Everything West of Home/Brooklyn Reprise,” a poignant song introduced with passionate “hey-hey-heys.”
“I have promises to keep,” Michelini sang, “and miles to go before I sleep.”
For the finale of their final show, the band joined hundreds of fans on the concrete ground for an unplugged singalong of “Bone Marrow Twist and Shout,” an unrecorded track.
“Not every band gets closure like that,” Michelini told The Signal after the show. “We were lucky enough to get it.”
When all was said and done, River City Extension stepped outside into the freezing November night. One fan approached Michelini with an extended hand to thank him for all he’s done. “Tonight was an experience,” he told Michelini.
The musician smiled and shook his hand. “Thank you so much,” he said, “but it’s time for a new experience. It’s time for a new adventure.”
For Michelini, his new adventure comes in the form of American Trappist, his current musical project.
“I’m not trying to reach for something in my songwriting that doesn’t come naturally to me, so some of it might... sound similar to River City,” he told The Signal. “I feel an artistic freedom doing this.”
River City Extension fans will earnestly be waiting to see what new adventures lie in store for the rest of the bandmates, but in the meantime, they have no doubt that the Unmistakeable Band will be OK.
After all, in the new song “White Blackmail,” Michelini sings, “And when the curtain finally falls, it won’t have bothered me at all.”
(12/01/15 9:21pm)
By Sydney Shaw
News Editor
It was a night of firsts for the sisters of Alpha Xi Delta (AXiD) as they raised money and awareness to support Autism Speaks on Thursday, Nov. 19, — one plate of pasta at a time.
“Xiti with the Xis,” the sorority’s first annual all-you-can-eat pasta buffet, was the culmination of a week-long effort to support Autism Speaks, an organization that raises awareness for those with Autism Spectrum Disorders.
“Since it was our first event, there was a lot of things I needed to learn before I started,” said junior psychology major Kajal Patel, the organizer of the philanthropic event.
“With the help of the other sororities on campus, I was able to learn some of the ins and outs of planning,” Patel said. “The actual planning just entailed a lot of busy work — when to print tickets, the graphic we wanted designed, the food we wanted to serve, the amount of food and the ingredients we would need, how many people we would like to feed, etc.”
Throughout the night, the sisters brought hot trays of fresh-baked ziti to room 212 of the Education Building, along with caesar salad, Italian bread and a wide array of desserts, such as cupcakes, cake pops and brownies. Tickets for the buffet were $5 from a sister and $7 at the door.
“We, as a sorority, help to raise money for them by participating in the AmaXing Challenge and other philanthropy events (such as) ‘Xiti with the Xis,’” Patel said. “We also participate in the program in April called ‘Light it Up Blue’ and we participate in their Walk Now for Autism all around the country.”
The sisters also unveiled their wooden letters for the first time, marking an important milestone in the history of the young chapter. The letters are light blue, dark blue and gold, keeping with the colors of the national sorority.
“This is the first time even some of the members have seen our letters,” said Chrissy Paolini, the sorority’s Chapter Life vice president and a senior special education and iSTEM dual major. “It means a lot to unveil them at our first real philanthropy event.”
On Monday, Nov. 16, AXiD celebrated its National Philanthropy Day with a Piccolo Trattoria fundraiser. People were invited to grab some food at the restaurant, with a percentage of the restaurant’s proceeds donated to Autism Speaks.
In the Brower Student Center, sisters gave out free hot chocolate and Hershey’s Kisses as they provided students with facts about Autism Spectrum Disorders.
Proceeds from the sorority’s bake sale on Tuesday, Nov. 17, were donated to Autism Speaks.
“Autism Speaks is the world’s leading autism science and advocacy organization benefiting individuals with autism and their families,” Patel said.
Patel’s hard work did not go unnoticed by her sisters.
“A lot of work went into the event. It was our first philanthropy event, so just learning the ropes on really what went into an event like this was hard to do,” junior sociology major Kathleen McIlraith said. “It was awesome to see how well Kajal was at organizing everyone. Probably the biggest thing was getting all of us organized… there were a lot of Google docs involved.”
Ultimately, McIlraith said she was happy to see such a big turnout at Xiti with the Xis.
“It’s just great to see how many people came to the event and took an interest in helping us to benefit Autism Speaks,” she said. “To have a lot of love and support from the TCNJ community was great. It certainly helped put us in the right direction for next semester, (which is) our bigger semester for philanthropy stuff.
“We totally still have a lot more work to do, but we’re bringing awareness to the TCNJ community and beyond and that’s really our goal.”
(11/23/15 6:35am)
By Sydney Shaw
News Editor
After losing his job as a bond trader in Chicago and announcing to his family that he wanted to become a full-time photographer, Brandon Stanton left everything behind and moved to a place he had visited only once before — New York City.
His goal: to photograph 10,000 strangers on the streets for a photoblog that came to be called “Humans of New York” (HONY). Stanton posts photos of these strangers, accompanied with snippets of their stories. Today, the Humans of New York Facebook page boasts almost 16 million likes.
Stanton spent the evening in Kendall Hall on Tuesday, Nov. 17, to share his own story with the College and to encourage students to get familiar with failure.
“I would never have done Humans of New York if I hadn’t had put myself in the position to fall on my face in front of all my family and friends,” Stanton said in an interview with The Signal. “I moved to New York, with nothing but a history degree and two suitcases, and told all my family and friends I was gonna be a photographer… I set myself up for failure. I had no experience.”
While attending the University of Georgia, Stanton decided to major in history because of his love for biographies.
“If you think about what a biography is, it is a personal history,” he said. “So by falling in love with biographies, that’s where I decided that I wanted to be a history major. So if you extrapolate to photography being kind of a stepping stone to telling people’s stories… it goes from (studying) history to telling people’s histories.”
The photo captions on the Humans of New York page have not always included the subjects’ stories, though. The evolution of Stanton’s blog can be seen by comparing his two No. 1 New York Times bestselling books — “Humans of New York” and “Humans of New York: Stories,” released in 2013 and 2015, respectively. The books contain a compilation of Stanton’s photos from his photoblog.
“When the first book came out, it was mainly just photographs,” Stanton said. “So in the six months it took for that first book to be published, the blog had changed so much that when that first book came out, it didn’t even look like the blog anymore.”
In the captions of his photos, Stanton has begun to include longer quotes from the people he photographed. Over time, he realized his knack for approaching strangers and quickly developing a rapport with them.
“It’s just always changing and it’s always evolving,” Stanton said. “It just comes out of me doing it every single day… I just keep getting more and more detail and more and more depth to these people’s stories, and the stories get longer and longer and longer.”
While the depths of the stories Stanton includes on the page have evolved, so has the impact of the page itself.
“The first time I found out that Humans of New York could really raise money was the first time I tried to raise money,” Stanton said. “Hurricane Sandy was the very first fundraiser we did. We raised a quarter of a million dollars.”
Since then, fans of Humans of New York have collaborated to raise money for those featured on the page, including a Pakistani man whose tractor was destroyed in an accident, to help end bonded labor in Pakistan and, most famously, for Mott Hall Bridges Academy in Brooklyn, N.Y.
The page has also evolved into a tool to spread empathy across the world.
“I remember, people used to always come up to me on the streets and say, ‘My mom was so terrified of me moving to New York, but then I just showed her your blog and now she feels better,’” Stanton said. “I realized that through stopping random people on the street and meeting these strangers… it had a very empathizing, ameliorating effect on the image of a person, a neighborhood, a city and a place.
“Once I realized that power of Humans of New York, the more I started thinking, ‘Where could I apply that? Where is somewhere that is feared that I can go and photograph random people?’”
The first place Stanton traveled to was Iran in the summer of 2012. Since then, he has collected photographs in nearly 20 countries, including Iraq, Pakistan and Mexico.
“The reception of that was so amazing,” he said.
Stanton ended his lecture by sharing a secret with the 800 or so students in the audience.
“I’m working on a film,” he said. “I’ve done about 150 days of filming and nobody’s seen any of it. I’ve filmed over 600 HONY interviews.”
While he didn’t reveal a possible release date for the film, Stanton told audience members that it’s “awesome.”
“There’s a story in all of us that is filled with enough excitement, tragedy, love and heroism that it can captivate millions and millions of people,” he said.
(11/17/15 8:52pm)
By Sydney Shaw
News Editor
According to a campus-wide email from Vice President for Student Affairs Amy Hecht, the College is welcoming Jordan Draper as its Title IX coordinator on Wednesday, Nov. 18.
“Jordan comes to TCNJ from Rutgers University, where she was the Compliance Investigator with the Office of Student Affairs Compliance,” the email read.
Draper earned her master’s degree in higher education administration from the University of Maryland and is currently working toward her doctorate of education in education, culture and society from Rutgers University.
According to Hecht, Draper has numerous publications and presentations, including “Campus Collaborations: Barriers, Advantages and Possibilities” and “Crossing Oceans: Bridging Cultural Barriers to Successfully Support International Students Who Violate Academic Integrity Codes.”
In her role as Title IX Coordinator at the College, Draper will “facilitate notification and education, serve as an investigator and monitor compliance on all Title IX issues at the College,” according to the email.
“The Title IX Coordinator plays a critical role in ensuring that educational pursuits are not hindered by any form of gender discrimination,” Draper said.
Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 is a federal law that states: “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”
Outside of athletics, however, Title IX most often has an impact on the way sexual violence is handled by colleges.
“The number of individuals who have experienced even one act of sexual violence or dating violence is staggering,” Draper said. “As a Title IX coordinator, I have the responsibility to provide a safe and hostile-free environment for every individual that is connected to TCNJ’s campus.”
Since the law works to give men and women equal access to education, the American Civil Liberties Union wrote, “When students suffer sexual assault and harassment, they are deprived of equal and free access to an education.”
In her role as Title IX coordinator, Draper will also provide direct administration of the investigation and findings of responsibility on Title IX issues for faculty, staff and students as outlined in the Undergraduate and Graduate Student Conduct Codes and the Policy Prohibiting Discrimination.
“Nationally, institutions of higher education have created positions, similar to ours, that allow for a focus on the nuances of Title IX, the management of investigations, and the implementation of an educational component,” Hecht said.
Although Draper will report directly to Hecht, she will also be working closely with the Dean of Students Angela Chong, assistant vice presidents for Student Affairs, the Vice President for Human Resources Gregory Pogue and the College’s Chief Diversity Officer Kerri Thompson Tillett.
“In my previous role working with students, I learned that there is a lack of understanding around many issues such as consent and that students do not know the role a college can play in intervening and creating a hostile-free environment,” Draper said.
“I believe that it is essential to educate all students, faculty and staff on their rights, resources, and processes available to them,” Draper said. “I... hope to create a campus climate where every individual trusts the administration and feels comfortable reporting incidents of sexual violence, dating violence and stalking.”
She has high hopes for the College in regard to making the campus feel safe for all students.
“I believe TCNJ can be a national leader in the crusade against sexual violence and dating violence and I will work tirelessly with the devoted students, staff, and faculty here to accomplish this,” Draper said.
(11/17/15 2:46am)
By Sydney Shaw
News Editor
Starter, legendary and classic Pokémon characters were hidden at the College on Sunday, Nov. 8, for The Society for Creative Endeavors’ (TSCE) fourth Pokémon scavenger hunt.
“It is inspired by the game ‘Pokémon Snap,’” TSCE member Rachel Bouton said. “It’s an older video game where users take photos as the game goes on, and point value is determined by the quality of the photos.”
Bouton and several other members of TSCE were dressed in pink shirts with sewn-on pockets containing paper eggs, resembling the Pokémon Chansey.
To participate in the scavenger hunt, students took selfies with as many of the 126 printed-out and laminated Pokémon photos they could find all across campus. Each Pokémon was worth a certain point value. Students could then go to the Pokémon Center (located in the atrium of the Social Sciences Building) to cash in points.
“We tried to stick with a theme,” TSCE member Maddie Remetz said. “Certain types of Pokémon are hidden in places that are associated with them.”
For example, Shuckle, a Bug/Rock-type Pokémon that resembles a turtle, and Caterpie, a Bug-type Pokémon that resembles a caterpillar, were both hidden just outside the Biology Building.
Munchlax, a Pokémon known for its gluttony, was found taped to the wall just outside the Convenience Store, while Vaporeon, a Water Pokémon, was placed outside of the Packer Hall Pool.
The two Grass Pokémon, Oddish, with green leaves protruding from its head, and Leafeon, with green sprouts on its body, were found taped to Green Hall, as the color of the Pokémon’s characteristics correspond to the building’s name.
“We thought way too much into this,” Remetz said.
The hunt did not come without its difficulties, though, as two pairs of students acted as Team Rocket and Team Magma, challenging participating students to Pokémon trivia games and Nintendo 3DS matches.
TSCE Vice President Graham Roberts and Secretary Tim Cornell comprised Team Rocket, while general members Nicole Haley and Cassandra Gonzalez served as Team Magma.
If the villainous teams defeated the student searching for Pokémon, they had the power to delete the last Pokémon photo from the student’s phone, subsequently erasing those points.
Students who defeated their challengers, though, could take a photo with them for bonus points.
“There was a set of high quality pins for the winner, some stuffed animals for the first few runners-up, a classic game cartridge for another runner-up and some trading cards for other participants,” Roberts said.
Ultimately, a few dozen students participated in the scavenger hunt, which lasted from 11:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
“It’s always a lot of fun,” Bouton said. “We have some new ideas already for next year’s scavenger hunt.”
(11/10/15 7:04pm)
By Sydney Shaw
News Editor
Whether it’s to snag a single room in Phelps Hall for the housing lottery, or a spot in an elective that’s only available every few years come scheduling time, everyone hopes for that coveted 9 a.m. time slot. But what can students do to increase their odds of getting first pick over their classmates?
According to Assistant Director of Housing Bryan Dunphy-Culp, nothing — at least not when it comes to housing.
“Time slots are 100 percent randomized,” Dunphy-Culp said. “It takes nothing into account other than x number of students based on gender for a given class year.”
After the College receives all of the applications from students wanting to live on campus, Residential Education and Housing splits the total number of students by gender.
“We split it by gender to make sure we have the right number of spaces for each gender for their class year,” Dunphy-Culp said. “We need to calculate what would be a reasonable number of people to select every 15 minutes, so we input the data, saying that we want x many females selecting every 15 minutes, starting at 9 a.m. and ending at 5 p.m. Then we do the same for males and we see how many we have.”
Time slots for each day during the registration period usually begin at 9 a.m., but the final selection time each day varies by class size.
“Sophomore time slots usually end at five or six o’clock because there are more sophomores picking housing,” Dunphy-Culp said. “Junior and senior selection ends maybe around (3 p.m.) because there are fewer students selecting spaces.”
Typically, 30 to 35 students select a bed every 15 minutes, Dunphy-Culp said.
“It’s a good amount of time for people to get on and off the portal without overloading it,” he said. “And in 15 minutes, if someone makes an error, it gives them time to go back and fix it before the next group of students sign on.”
Dunphy-Culp added that room selection is entirely unrelated to the wait list.
“If we ever had a wait list, it would be after selection for those who forgot to apply, those who decided much later they wanted housing, transfer students or someone who was cut from selection,” he said. “But that will vary year-to-year based on spaces that are available.”
For the 2015-16 academic year, Dunphy-Culp said there is no wait list — an unusual occurrence.
“There was no student who applied on-time for housing that didn’t get a room this year,” he said. “There was no formal waitlist, either — just 12 to 15 students who applied late and were housed quickly.”
New housing provided by the apartments in Campus Town is a huge contributing factor to the lack of a wait list, Dunphy-Culp said. Many elected to live in the new apartments, leaving spaces open for other students who still wanted to live on campus.
For those students, the College utilized a software system to randomize and assign time slots to them, according to Dunphy-Culp.
“We have an entire database that controls what you see on the MyHousing portal, when applications are available, etc.,” he said. “It is quite extensive.”
According to Frank Cooper, executive director of Records and Registration, there is a similar software system in place to assign time slots for class selection.
“Students are prioritized first by ‘earned’ course units and then by GPA at the time the registration appointment process is run,” Cooper said. “When the College went live with the system in 2009, we were informed by consultants that beyond this criteria, the selection would be random.”
So, for instance, if two students in the same class have the exact same GPA and have taken the same number of courses, there is no telling who might get the earlier time slot. However, getting a higher GPA than a classmate could earn a student a better time slot to design their schedule.
Cooper added that the College places approximately 140 to 180 students in each class registration window, and there are about five windows during each day of registration.
Last semester, the College made the decision to grant student athletes priority registration while in season, so those individuals receive earlier time slots to enroll in classes in order to plan their schedules around practice times.
Rumors about the time slot assignment process have run rampant on campus over the past few years. Some believed it was based on last name, living distance from the College or solely based on a student’s GPA.
“The one thing I like to say is unless you hear it from us or from the materials we send out, don’t believe it,” Dunphy-Culp said.
So technically, a student can strive for Dean’s List each semester and pray for an early time slot, but it mostly comes down to crossing fingers and knocking on wood.
May the odds be ever in your favor.
(11/10/15 7:02pm)
By Sydney Shaw News Editor
When Laverne Cox introduced herself to students at the College, she refused to confine herself to a single label.
“I stand before you as a proud, African American, transgender woman,” Cox said. “I believe it is important to name the various intersecting components of my multiple identities because I’m not just one thing, and neither are you.”
During her “Ain’t I a Woman” lecture in Kendall Hall on Friday, Nov. 6, the “Orange is the New Black” actress and activist launched into statistics about the struggles transgender people face every day in the United States.
Citing the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, Cox said over 50 percent of all LGBTQ homicide victims are trans women.
“This year is the deadliest year on record for trans women,” she said. “Twenty-two murders of trans women have been reported so far this year. Only 12 last year.”
Cox said the unemployment rate in the transgender community is twice the national average, and four times that for trans people of color. She also said 78 percent of transgender or gender nonconforming people have experienced harassment or bullying because of their gender identity.
“It is a state of emergency,” she said.
Cox recounted her own experiences being bullied in school for breaking out of the gender binary.
“They made fun of me because I acted like a girl — whatever that means, because we know girls act all sorts of ways,” Cox said.
When Cox’s elementary school teacher asked what the difference between a boy and a girl was, her response was, “There is no difference.”
Since people called Cox a boy, but she felt like a girl, she figured they must be the same.
“I knew in my heart and my soul and my spirit that I was a girl,” she said.
Cox shared a quote that has resonated with her from philosopher Simone de Beauvoir, reimagined by gender theorist Judith Butler.
“One is not born a woman, but rather becomes one,” Cox said. “But it is not guaranteed that the one who becomes a woman is necessarily female. And ain’t I a woman.”
Cox analyzed the ways in which society polices the gender of individuals through institutionalized means, such as the persistence of gender-segregated bathrooms.
“Another example of that is we do not count transgender people in this country, literally,” Cox said. “When we take census data, we do not ask gender identity questions. So we, to this day, in 2015, don’t have an accurate count of how many people identify as transgender in the U.S.
“If we want trans lives to matter, we have to start counting trans lives.”
Cox, like the 41 percent of transgender individuals who have attempted suicide, did not feel like her life mattered.
“Guilt is ‘I did wrong,’ while shame is ‘I am wrong,’” she said. “I’ve carried tremendous amounts of shame about various aspects of who I am.”
During her lecture, Cox stressed that using a transgender person’s preferred pronouns is incredibly important.
“Misgendering a transgender person is an act of violence,” she said. “There is a subtext of a threat.”
Cox detailed an incident from 2008 during which she was kicked by a young man on the street who called her a man.
“I do not deserve to be treated this way,” she said. “There’s a trauma. There is PTSD associated with having my personal space violated.”
Cox survived that incident, but told the audience that many transgender people are not so fortunate.
“Islan Nettles, on August 17, 2013, was walking down the street in Harlem, New York, when she was catcalled by a group of young men,” Cox said. “Once they realized she was a trans woman, one of the men assaulted her and pounded her head into the sidewalk so furiously that she ended up in a coma.”
Nettles was taken off life support and died from her injuries five days later. It took over a year and a half for there to be an arrest, Cox said.
“When I think about the trans women who have lost their lives simply for being who they are, it touches me to my core because… it could have very easily been me,” she said.
Cox explained the street term “spooked,” which is when someone realizes a person’s gender does not match his or her biological sex. Cox said the first time she was spooked on the street in New York City was devastating.
Since then, Cox started the hashtag #TransIsBeautiful for those of all gender identities to encourage people to live as their authentic selves and to celebrate the things that make trans people “uniquely trans.”
“It’s taken me many years to internalize that if someone can look at me and tell (that I am transgender), that’s not just OK. That’s beautiful,” Cox said. “Trans is beautiful… My deep voice, my wide shoulders, my big hands and feet — all of those things are beautiful.”
(10/20/15 11:13pm)
By Sydney Shaw
News Editor
Whether the stories were funny, tragic or dramatic, each of the speeches at PRISM’s Coming Out Monologues had one thing in common — they were shared by incredibly brave students. Speakers took the stage in the Library Auditorium on Tuesday, Oct. 6, and Thursday, Oct. 8, to share stories of how they came out to their family, friends and even to themselves.
“The Coming Out Monologues invariably proves itself amongst the most impactful programs on campus,” said PRISM President Ryan Eldridge, a junior political science and women’s and gender studies double major. “By an unprecedented turn of events, at the 2015 Student Activities Programming Awards last April, the monologues were recognized for TCNJ’s Legacy Program of the Year.”
PRISM is the College’s first queer-straight alliance and aims to create a safe space for students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, among other sexual orientations and identities.
“Growing up, I always knew I was a little different,” senior marketing major Mike Brown said. “I never really thought much about it… until sixth grade. I remember watching a music video and I distinctly remember thinking about whoever the guy singer was, ‘Wow, he’s really cute.’”
Immediately afterward, Brown tried to rationalize his feelings.
“Why did I just think that?” he asked. “No, he’s not cute. He’s good looking, don’t get me wrong. Objectively, he’s a nice looking man. But he’s not cute. I don’t know why I thought that.”
That thought stuck with Brown, as it was the first time he ever acknowledged another man in a more sexual way. He knew, though, that identifying as gay was not fully accepted in society.
Fast forward seven years: Brown was about to start his freshman year at the College.
“That’ll be a fresh start,” he thought. “I’ll just outright be gay and everyone will love me and they’ll have to accept it. And then on move-in day, I was like, ‘Oh, God, I don’t want to be gay.’”
Brown worried that he wouldn’t make friends and that his roommate would be disgusted by him and request a room change. But after coming out to more and more friends, Brown realized he could truly be himself at the College. He began talking to men and met his boyfriend, who he is still dating today.
Abbey Moor, a freshman special education and women’s and gender studies double major, spoke about her experience coming out to her family — specifically her twin sister.
“‘You realize how nervous I was to tell you?’” Moor asked her twin.
“Yeah, I know,” Moor’s twin said. “I read it on your blog.”
While each monologue was personalized, many of the students commented on the sense of community they found through their friends here at the College after they came out.
“It was never the problem I thought it was going to be,” sophomore women’s and gender studies major Rosie Driscoll said. “I began to call my freshman floor ‘home.’”
Simply speaking wasn’t enough for some students who chose to include songs in their monologues.
Senior nursing major Jordan Stefanski performed an emotional rendition of Bette Midler’s “The Rose,” encouraging students struggling with their sexual orientation that they can find happiness and acceptance.
“Just remember in the winter, far beneath the bitter snow lies the seed that with the sun’s love, in the spring, becomes the rose,” he sang.
Stefanski said he decided to apply to the College when he saw the Queer Awareness Month banner outside of the Student Center during a tour. He took a picture of it, then posted it to Facebook with the caption: “I’m home.”
Senior English major Lisbeth Wimberg introduced her monologue with a remix of the theme song from “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.”
“Well, this is a story all about how my life got flipped, turned upside down, and I’d like to take a minute, just sit right there. I’ll tell you how I figured out that I’m bisexual,” she sang.
In her monologue, Wimberg shared the story of how she came out to her older sister on a street in Philadelphia.
“We were trying to have intellectual conversations, so I was like, ‘You know, I really just can’t tell if I’m attracted to men because I’m supposed to be and that’s what society wants me to do, or if I’m attracted to women because women are so oversexualized in the media,’” Wimberg said.
“Are you coming out to me right now?” her sister asked.
“No,” Wimberg said. “I mean, maybe. I’m just trying to have a conversation!”
After Wimberg started dating her girlfriend, her mother asked if the two girls were “BFFs at school.”
“No, Mom,” Wimberg said. “She’s more like my GF at school… and everywhere else.”
Ultimately, the monologues served as a platform for openly-queer students to share their experiences, as well as a source of hope for students who might not be fully out yet.
“As we acknowledge our history, we must also turn our gaze to the future,” Eldridge said. “There is so much work to be done both within and beyond the borders of TCNJ’s campus.”
The Coming Out Monologues were part of Queer Awareness Month, which includes other events, such as Queer Ball and Big Gay Bingo.
Julia Dzurillay contributed to this article.
(09/30/15 1:56am)
By Sydney Shaw
News Editor
Nobody commands an audience quite as effortlessly as Colin Meloy.
Picture this: The Decemberists’ frontman solo on stage at Radio City Music Hall on Friday, Sept. 25, an acoustic guitar in hand. He is spotlighted against the venue’s famous golden curtain.
He picks away at the strings, singing a couple of throwback tracks in his full-bodied baritone (“The Apology Song” and “My Mother Was a Chinese Trapeze Artist,” both from 2001).
Then, Meloy cruises into “Crane Wife 3,” the heartbreaking culmination of the story from 2006’s “The Crane Wife.” Based on Japanese folklore, the song details a husband’s terrifying discovery that his wife, magically transformed from a crane into a woman, earned the family’s fortune by pulling feathers from her own skin to weave into cloth.
“She had no heart so hardened, all under the boughs unbowed,” Meloy sings.
Enter Chris Funk, jamming on electric guitar as the song builds and the curtain rises to reveal the rest of the band, bathed in a cool blue light. Meanwhile, Jenny Conlee’s delicate key-playing against Nate Query’s rumbling bass provides a beautiful foundation leading into the second verse.
And here, the band dives into their 2005 album, “Picaresque,” playing “Leslie Ann Levine” and “On the Bus Mall” while reducing more than a few audience members to tears.
Together, the Portlanders set the scene for what would prove to be an evening filled with laughter, harrowing heartbreak and no shortage of surprises.
“We know you have many entertainment options in New York City,” Meloy told the comfortably-seated crowd. “Maybe a regal figure of a certain theology. Or the pope.”
Meloy dedicated “Billy Liar” — a song rife with teen-angst and references to masturbation — to Pope Francis, who was a mile away at Madison Square Garden.
“Of all the popes in history,” Meloy said, “he would be the most likely to chuckle… before I was condemned.”
For the chorus, Meloy split the crowd into three parts and coached each group through a different harmony. He called out those in the front row who refused to sing along and silenced the entire balcony with the wave of a hand.
And just as quickly as the fun diddy began, it ended and melted into a more somber, nostalgic tone.
“Despite what kind of opulent setting we might be in, this should be more of a campfire singalong,” Meloy said before strumming the opening chords to “Make You Better.”
For the first time all night, the audience rose to its feet like a wave, from the front row, all the way back to the upper balcony.
“All I wanted was a sliver to call mine,” Meloy sang. “All I wanted was a shimmer of your shine to make me bright, but we’re not so starry-eyed anymore.”
Funk’s fervid guitar solo electrified the venue so much that Meloy had to commend him after the song ended.
“We’re so proud of Chris. He grew up in Indiana, corn-fed,” Meloy said. “We raised him up from a little turnip.”
The band also teased “Why Would I Now?” from its newest album, “florasongs,” set to be released on Friday, Oct. 9. It is composed of cuts from January’s “What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World.”
Meloy returned to “The Crane Wife” album to sing about “gangs and warfare,” he said. When the microphone died during “O’ Valencia,” 5,000 audience members took over the vocals for him in a powerful display of loyalty.
The show’s finale was an explosive performance of “The Chimbley Sweep” from the 2003 album “Her Majesty the Decemberists.”
“For I am a poor and a wretched boy,” Meloy belted out. “A chimbley, chimbley sweep.”
The lights fell and the audience erupted into applause. They patiently waited for the encore — “A Mariner’s Revenge Song,” or so they thought.
Instead, the crowd learned The Decemberists had retired that song, as well as their giant cutout whale, at the Shelburne, Vt., show on Friday, July 31.
Shrouded by a thick mist, Conlee began the ominous “Prelude,” launching the band into a 25-minute long block from 2009’s “The Hazards of Love.”
“My true love went riding out in white and green and grey,” Meloy crooned from “The Hazards of Love 1.”
He went on to sing, in order from the LP, “A Bower Scene,” fraught with thrashing guitar riffs and a head-bobbing rhythm, and “Won’t Want For Love,” led by the lovely voice of Nora O’Connor.
Stage lights went all-red for “The Rake’s Song,” a passionate crowd favorite. Meloy plays a widower who feels no remorse after killing his children in order to be rid of the responsibility of raising them.
The six-song suite ended with “The Hazards of Love 4,” the finale of the album in which Meloy’s lovestruck characters, William and Margaret, escape the clutches of the evil Forest Queen, only to face drowning on a sinking ship.
“With this long last rush of air, we’ll speak our vows in starry whisper,” Meloy sang. “And when the waves came crashing down, he closed his eyes and softly kissed her. These hazards of love never more will trouble us.”
The lights fell again, but even 20 songs in, the show went on. The Decemberists returned for a second encore after minutes of coaxing from the crowd.
“I love all 5,000 of you,” Meloy cried. “I want to put you all to sleep in 5,000 little beds, and I would sing you to sleep with this song.”
His lullaby of choice was “Of Angels and Angles,” a return to “Picaresque” and a hauntingly beautiful melody.
“There are angels in your angles,” he sang. “There’s a low moon caught in your tangles.”
The final song of the evening was a sucker-punch to the heart — a chilling performance of “Dear Avery.” The track expresses how parents are affected when their children are shipped off to battle.
“But you were my Avery,” Meloy sang. “Dear Avery, come home.”
With that, he blew a kiss to the audience and left the stage for good — but hopefully not for the last time. After a two-year hiatus, The Decemberists came smashing back to the folk scene with a worldwide tour and two new record releases in just nine months. Until it’s time to flaunt “florasongs” tracks, New York City will eagerly be waiting their return.
(09/24/15 12:22am)
By Sydney Shaw
News Editor
A wicker rocking chair rests out on the porch, shaded by the veranda above. A short wooden railing wraps halfway around the colonial farmhouse, the backdrop to a few high-reaching shrubs and wildflowers. Chalk-white chimneys rise up amid chocolate-brown shingles on the roof.
The front yard is vast and open, peppered with a few solid, old trees and a flagpole stuck into the ground. It’s a quaint little home on a picturesque piece of land.
But that was back in 1960 — the same year the College purchased the building.
Today, the Green Farmhouse is utterly dilapidated. Its two doors and six windows have been sealed off and painted a forest green color. The porch is gone, along with its pretty wooden skirting. Both verandas were lost long ago. The shingles on the roof are sparse and the paint has mostly chipped away, leaving nothing but the remnants of the building’s famous Flemish bond brickwork.
That’s why the house has been placed on the Preservation New Jersey 2015 list of the “10 Most Endangered Historic Sites,” and it’s why The Friends of the William Green Farmhouse is finally putting its foot down.
“What would your neighbors say if you bought a house and let it go derelict for 55 years?” asked Billy Joe O’Neal, Jr., vice president of The Friends.
The Friends is a nonprofit organization founded in 2000 with the sole mission of working cooperatively with the College to restore the farmhouse.
In 2007, at the urging of The Friends and the intervention of State Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, the College spent around $100,000 to mothball the farmhouse to ensure no further deterioration would occur while funds were being raised for its rehabilitation. A few years later, The Friends requested permission to seek a lease for the house.
“We were denied that request and told that the College has no interest in supporting our effort to restore the house to its former glory, an effort that legally lies in their lap, not ours,” O’Neal said in a press release.
In 2012, the estimated cost of full restoration was around $2.6 million.
“Other colleges have historic buildings like this one on their properties,” said Robert Colonna, a senior history and secondary education double major. “Princeton has old buildings, Rutgers does… The difference is that those buildings have been taken care of and renovated into student centers or alumni houses. Those buildings serve a purpose.”
Colonna’s internship through the Ewing Preservation Society is to do research and track the genealogy of the people who lived in the farmhouse. He is also in the process of building a three-dimensional model of the farmhouse.
“I think the College is forgetting that the Green Farmhouse pre-dates our country,” Colonna said. “We think of our country and our government and even the College as these old, important institutions, meanwhile, this house has been around through all of it.”
A Facebook page now exists to bolster support for the farmhouse’s renovation. It is called “TCNJ’s Green Farmhouse: Help Save it.”
“There are many pressing priorities at the College — more so than the College can fund,” spokesman Dave Muha said. “Right now, we are focused on raising $40 million dollars, half of which will be used for student scholarships. The link for students there is really direct.”
Muha acknowledged the historic importance of the farmhouse. According to Preservation New Jersey, the brick portion of the house is one of the oldest and northernmost examples of patterned brick architecture in New Jersey.
“The purpose of my internship isn’t to try to save the farmhouse,” Colonna said. “But I am hoping that people will see my work and realize that something needs to be done. The College thinks students don’t care about the house, but maybe seeing my work will create a snowball effect and more and more people will care.”
According to O’Neal, the Green family’s land stretched from where Green Hall stands (named after James M. Green, former principal of the New Jersey State Normal School, unrelated to William Green) to what is now Crescent Avenue in the neighborhood across from the College’s Green Lane entrance.
The Friends has a more extensive history of the property and the Green family on its website, williamgreenhouse.org. It contains an in-depth analysis of the Green family tree, tracing the home from William Green, who built the farmhouse around 1717, to Henry Green, who lost the farm on a peach crop endeavor in 1879.
Paintings of the Green family members, as well as photos and locations of their tombstones, are also available on the website.
“We don’t question the historic value of the farmhouse,” Muha said. “It’s just a reality that dollars are tight.”
(09/23/15 11:05pm)
This week, Nick Landolfi, WTSR assistant music director, and Sydney Shaw, music staff member, highlight some of the best new albums that the College’s own radio station, 91.3 FM WTSR, puts into its weekly rotation.
Band: Giorgio Moroder
Album: “Déjà vu”
Hailing From: Urtijëi, Italy
Genre: 80s Dance Disco
Label: RCA
To most of you, Giorgio Moroder was the name of a Daft Punk song from 2013’s “Random Access Memories.” In reality, he is one of the pioneers of disco, dance music, EDM and electro. Why do you think the guys who created EDM and dance music named a song after him? Nevertheless, this album is funky fresh. You’ll find a list featuring a crazy collection of people from Sia and Charli XCX to Kylie Minogue and Britney Spears. This is a pop-disco album that is heavy on the pop. Ultimately, you’ll hear a lot of the roots to what popular music has recently been stealing from this album. To some, it may sound disjointed and outdated, but in my humble opinion, I think it’s a good attempt for a 74 year old to expand his musical talents again.
Must Hear: “Déjà Vu (feat. Sia),” “Diamonds (feat. Charli XCX),” “Right Here Right Now (feat. Kylie Minogue)” and “Tempted (feat. Matthew Koma)”
Band: The Front Bottoms
Album: “Back On Top”
Hailing From: Woodcliff Lake, N.J.
Genre: Indie Punk Rock
Label: Fueled by Ramen
It might be tough for day-one Front Bottoms fans to accept the band’s transition from “Taking my Uzi to the Gym” to signing with Fueled By Ramen. But from a technical standpoint, “Back on Top” is their best-produced and most developed LP yet. Frontman Brian Sella’s growing confidence shines through on nearly every track and the band’s signature humor and high-energy are more prominent than ever before. Replete with deep lyrics and delicately layered instrumentals, “Cough it Out” is a deliriously beautiful song. In “2YL,” Sella sings about relationships — from having sex to being there to support one another. A fun horns section makes this track stand out. In fact, Ciaran O’Donnell’s key and horn additions add a component to “Back on Top” that previous TFB albums were lacking.
Must hear: “Summer Shandy,” “Cough It Out,” “Laugh Till I Cry” and “2YL”