The Signal: Spring '14, No. 4

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Vol. XXXX, No. 4

February 12, 2014

Serving The College of New Jersey community since 1885

Love thy neighbor: Ewing’s plea Offerman, American ham hero

By Tom Kozlowski News Editor

Courtney Wirths / Photo Editor

As more College students rent housing in Ewing, their neighboring residents appeal for courtesy and peace.

By Sydney Shaw Staff Writer After 35 years of serving on the Ewing police department, Wayne Kemper wanted to retire in a peaceful town surrounded by respectful neighbors. He wanted to retire in the neighborhood he grew up in.

Unfortunately, that is not what the veteran officer received.

For years, the Brae Burn neighborhood of Ewing has struggled to maintain good relations with the students from the College who rent housing in their town.

Now, the approval of Wilson Gearhart’s

proposal to use the land at 129 Crescent Avenue to construct more housing for college students to rent has brought up concerns about an increase in noise, littering and cars parked up and down the street.

“If there’s a college house in the neighborhood, we want the grass to be cut, and we don’t want beer bottles strewn about the lawn,” Kemper said at a site review meeting in November. “We usually get what we want. There are more nice kids than dirty ones that live in this neighborhood … but there’s always a few that get wild and try to tear up my mailbox.”

Carolyn Carmichael, a resident of St.

Paul Avenue, had similar complaints.

“We’ve had problems for years with College kids, and they are just going to keep getting worse as new places for them to live keep popping up,” Carmichael said.

In Sept. 2011, Kemper was featured in an article on ABC Action News that addressed retirees’ complaints about noisy college students in their neighborhood.

“I’ve had it,” Kemper told reporter Nora Muchanic. “I’m sick and tired of it. I worked all my life to live where I’m living now and now I have to put up with this.” see EWING page 3

Skyping to Hope in a time of healing a revolution

would be like if that person was gone forever.

Cammarata was thinking of her 13-yearold son, Nick, who she lost to acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2008.

Cammarata reflected on Nick’s life and how she can better the community in his honor during her presentation, “The Power of Giving and How It Transforms Us.” Held in the Library Auditorium on Saturday, Feb. 8, the event was co-sponsored by Colleges Against Cancer and the freshman class council in order to teach students how to band together, give back and make a difference in their communities.

“Nick was the sunlight in my family,” Cammarata said.

In summer of 2008, Nick became fatigued while he was swimming. Bloodwork later revealed the terminal diagnosis.

After going through chemotherapy, battling a bout of severe infections and recovering from an appendectomy, Nick finally went into remission on Oct. 18 of that year. However, he suffered a spontaneous brain hemorrhage and died eight days later.

By Colleen Murphy Features Editor It is not like Occupy Wall Street. It is not like the Arab Spring. The revolution happening in Ukraine, according to Ukrainian professor Mychailo Wynnyckyj, is a revolution of the middle class, comprised of students and highly educated people.

“This is a pretty unique thing that’s going on, and I think it’s really something that is pretty difficult to get a handle on because there’s nothing to compare it to,” Wynnyckyj said.

Via webcam, seven panelists, including three Ukrainian student activists and an American Fulbright scholar, discussed the ongoing revolution with about 100 of the College’s students during the Politics Forum, “Ukraine: What Are They Fighting For?” on Thursday, Feb. 6. see UKRAINE page 2

INDEX: Nation & World / Page 5 The Signal @TCNJsignal

Kyle Bennion / Photo Assistant

Cammarata speaks to honor her son.

By Sydney Shaw Staff Writer

Author Janine De Tillio Cammarata asked her audience members to close their eyes and picture the person who means the most to them — whether it be the seemingly invincible parent, their sibling or their soul mate.

Then she asked them to imagine what it Editorial / Page 7

see CANCER page 2

Opinions / Page 9

Arts & Entertainment / Page 10

Nick Offerman is the articulate American man. The character he most famously portrays — department head Ron Swanson of NBC’s “Parks and Recreation” — is a representation of that American man, an outdoorsy, red-meat, red-blooded champion of individual liberty. Where Ron Swanson’s qualities are written to produce a comedic effect, the real-life Offerman, no less passionate in any of these traits, can use them as tools of eloquence. He isn’t just a concept of hypermasculinity or patriotism, he’s the thinking man as well.

“I wrote this show called ‘American Ham’ in which I detail 10 tips for prosperity, which are the chunks of broccoli in the meal — then I try to build a delicious pizza around it, so that the audience would stay for the pizza and unwittingly consume a bunch of broccoli,” Offerman said in an interview with The Signal. “And as you know, cruciferous vegetables are good for your circulatory system.”

Offerman, deciding he had “something to say to the young people in America,” left his established niche of theater and character acting in order to deliver a message — an American message, nonetheless, that dismantled our convictions and rebuilt them with a handsome mustache on top. So stopping at the College, Offerman headlined CUB’s spring Comedy Show on Friday, Feb. 7, with opener Andy Haynes giving a blistering opening act before passing the mic. see COMEDY page 10

Vicki Wang / Staff Photographer

Offerman delivers in full regalia.

Features / Page 12

Sports / Page 24

Women’s basketball The girls take care of business in the NJAC.

Valentine’s Day The perfect list of romantic movies, even for cynics.

“The Lego Movie” Building blocks for a great animated film.

See Sports page 24

See Features page 13

See A&E page 11

page 2 The Signal February 12, 2014

Ukraine / Students learn about revolution continued from page 1

“The Russian government appears to be hindering the progress of closer Ukrainian ties with the West. Ukraine finds itself in a sensitive position geographically and historically between the European Union and the Russian Federation,” Center for Global Engagement director Jon Stauff said.

He said this ongoing revolution can be compared to “what happened in 1776 in the American colonies to drive leaders to draft the Declaration of Independence.”

But what started out as a peaceful, political demonstration quickly led to a more violent revolution about human rights and dignity.

“The regime decided that they didn’t like this idea of protest on the streets, so they called in riot police and the students were beaten rather brutally,” Wynnyckyj said. “The next morning, a lot of people in this country were in a state of shock. Exactly 36 hours after these attacks, we had anywhere from 500,000 to one million people demonstrating on the streets saying this is wrong.”

Since then, the regime has passed strict laws, including one that prohibits groups of more than 10 people to gather at a time.

People are hunted down on the streets, people disappear and activists’ cars are

burned, according to Wynnyckyj.

Ukrainian student activist Stepan Berko said what originally motivated him to join the movement was a failed government effort to create stronger ties with the West and, moreover, that something had to be done about it.

“We actually believed that we could influence the government, so our goal was to go on the streets with as many people as possible and show the will of the country,” Berko said. “And then later, after the students were beaten, we shifted to showing ... that we want to live in a democratic society, where people are not beaten by riot police.”

According to freshman secondary education and history double major Tyler Switsky, the forum taught him more about an issue that he was not fully aware was happening in today’s world.

“Americans need to make it a priority to be cognizant of things happening globally,” Switsky said. “I think it’s important that we pay more attention to what’s going on abroad. After seeing students my age feel so passionate about their human rights, the least I can do is be aware of their struggle and what’s occurring abroad.”

Stauff said he wanted the forum to teach students concepts such as citizenship, human rights and democracy and

Courtney Wirths / Photo Editor

Students are exposed to a violent reality in midst of Ukranian uprisings.

how difficult it is to create a civil society where these can be sustained.

“I hope our students consider participating more actively in their own communities, states and nation by following issues

of importance, expressing their opinions to their representatives and participating in the political process at home — even if that means only participating in elections once a year,” Stauff said.

Cancer / Honoring the victims of tragedy

Kyle Bennion / Photo Assistant

The nonprofit organization raises money for families with children diagnosed with cancer. continued from page 1 “Why did this happen? What was the purpose?” asked Cammarata, as

she went into detail about the numbness she felt during the first year after Nick’s passing. “You can’t stop living your life. You have to

find a way to honor that person.”

In order to honor Nick’s memory, Cammarata founded a nonprofit organization called “Nick’s

Fight To Be Healed.”

The foundation raises money for families of children with cancer and strives to improve and provide resources to help children with cancer lead fun and fulfilling lives.

Members of “Nick’s Round Table” are teens who want to make a difference in the lives of other teens battling cancer. They purchase iTunes gift cards, video games and other items to help distract young adults during treatment.

“We noticed a real need for distractions for teenagers,” Cammarata said. “They don’t want to do arts and crafts at the hospital.”

The logo of the organization, a dragon, a shield and a sword, was inspired by Nick’s love for all things medieval, a passion

Cammarata shared with her son. “(It) was all and more than I expected,” freshman marketing major Derek Carper said. “I was really touched and inspired by her story and her ability to stay strong.”

In November 2012, after two years of interviews, Cammarata published, “What Makes Them Amazing! Inspiring Stories of Young Adults Fighting Cancer.”

The book follows nine young adults battling cancer and illustrates their changes in perspective.

“You never get over something like this, but you get through it,” Cammarata said about losing her son. “You get through it by giving back, not only to channel time and energy, but (also) to make a difference in the lives of others.”

Flappy Bird is removed from online stores Olympic issues spread due to lack of audience

By Courtney Wirths Opinions Editor

• A few protestors went to the extreme of smashing their iPhones when Apple removed the app, Blockchain, from the App Store. The app is the most popular digital currency wallet for users hoping to transfer the digital currency Bitcoin, according to the Financial Times.

and early 1990s, now being called millennials, are being more proactive about their careers and less likely to spend money on large material purchases. The generation is cautious after growing up in slow economic times, according to CNBC.

• One of the fastest growing groups entering into entrepreneurship is Americans who are approaching retirement, but still looking to keep busy. 15 percent of all new businesses are started by entrepreneurs that are over the age of 60, according to The New York Times.

• Moody’s Investors Service, a prominent bond rating agency, ranked Puerto Rico’s bonds as junk. The agency cited the territories struggling economy and inability to borrow money as the reason for the change, according to the Financial Times.

• The generation of Americans born in the late 1980s

Aside from crowd favorites such as team figure skating and biathlon, the mountain events have had large areas of empty seats, according to the Wall Street Journal.

• The number of Americans who quit their job increased this past month. This data shows a growing level of confidence in workers since most chose to quit because they are moving to a new job or career and others are simply retiring, according to the Wall Street Journal.

• Activist investor Karl Icahn has decided to quit his persistent campaign to convince Apple to increase its stock buy-back program. Icahn currently holds $3 billion of Apple stock, according to CNBC.

• A huge problem facing the 2014 Olympics will not be the sold-out hotels and large crowds, but a lack of spectators.

• Flappy Bird, the most downloaded mobile game on both the Apple’s App Store and Google’s online stores, was removed from all marketplaces on midnight this past Sunday. The game’s creator announced his decision on Twitter 22 hours before the game was removed, according to CNBC.

February 12, 2014 The Signal page 3

Ewing / Rocky relations Magic marker action draws no conclusions

Courtney Wirths / Photo Editor

The College and Ewing’s strained relations continue. continued from page 1

Two years have passed, and still not much has changed.

According to that article, there were about “100 rental houses in the Ewing Park-Brae Burn section occupied by students from TCNJ and Rider University, kids who neighbors say drink and party ’til all hours of the night.”

A 2012 article in the Trentonian stated that “Ewing currently has 732 single-family homes that are now rentals,” the majority of those belonging to college students.

Before he retired, Kemper said he would sometimes write 500 tickets a month to students from the College, mostly for drunkenness and disturbing the peace.

At a meeting last year, Della Sutton of Crescent Avenue told the township that students from the College tore down her mailbox five times in that past year.

She added that they throw garbage onto her lawn, throw eggs

at her home, and have even taken checks out of her mailbox. She called the police twice.

Valeria Caffe shared similar stories and even suggested that a surveillance system in the neighborhood might offer some relief for residents.

It has been 13 months since that meeting, and no system has been put into effect.

In June 2012, Ewing Mayor Bert Steinmann said “enough is enough,” referring to “landlords who routinely convert single-family houses into rooming houses by chopping them up to exploit the properties and create what are essentially off-campus dormitories.”

“This is not about landlords making a buck, they are not building in character with the neighborhood, and they need to show some common decency for the community,” Steinmann said.

Despite the mayor’s declaration, homes in the Brae Burn neighborhood continue to be renovated into college rentals.

“It’s a disgrace,” said Delores Smith, a retiree living on St. Paul Avenue. “The town has no respect for us.”

Smith is a member of the Brae Burn Association.

According to the group’s website, “The mission of this civil association is to be pro-active in keeping the quality and values of our homes as well as to provide a medium for exchange of ideas and concepts that promote harmony, safety and a wholesome neighborhood.”

The College’s Task Force has indicated to the Association that students have been given rules for behavior when living off campus and can be disciplined for violating the code of conduct, Smith said.

“The College doesn’t enforce its rules like it used to,” she said.

Smith had no shortage of stories about the havoc that College students have wreaked on her neighborhood.

“One man told us about a college couple having sex on his lawn,” Smith said. “He asked them to leave and they laughed and cursed him off. When he threatened to get his gun, they left. He doesn’t have a gun, but it sure got them to leave.”

Smith says that members of the Brae Burn Association have sent many letters to the College and to College President Barbara Gitenstein, but claims that these letters have gone unanswered.

“We just want some peace,” Kemper said about the issues.

“Haven’t we dealt with enough, and for long enough?”

By Tom Kozlowski News Editor

On Tuesday, Feb. 4, police were dispatched to New Residence hall at 8:45 a.m. on reports of graffiti on the first and third floors, according to Campus Police. Scrawled in black magic marker, a hallway wall on the first floor read “BOMB SQUAD MOTHER FUCKERS” in all capital letters. Upon reaching the third floor, police found “BEST FRIEND” written in blue magic marker with an arrow drawn around the corner and pointing to the room of a resident.

Campus Police said there was an additional uncapitalized “Best friend” on the door in question.

When the residents were asked about the writing, both stated they had been home for the weekend and only discovered the writing on Sunday night. Additionally, their original black marker hanging on the door was replaced with a blue one, according to Campus Police. The scribbling suspects remain at large. …

A Travers resident was treated

by Lions EMS after becoming ill on Wednesday, Feb. 5, at 2 a.m. According to Campus Police, the female reportedly vomited in both the first floor women’s room and subsequently the third, being assisted back to her room by a friend. Police observed the student as she lay in bed,

said Campus Police, and she admitted to consuming about five or six shots of vodka earlier that evening. …

On Sunday, Feb. 9, at 12:10 a.m., Campus Police responded to a noise and potential drug complaint from students on Wolfe 9. Students irritated by excessive noise knocked on the room in question, believing they also smelt a strong odor of marijuana, according to Campus Police. After approximately 10 minutes, Campus Police were called — according to Campus Police, no drug-related smell was observable, but upon entering the room, police noticed several shot glasses and peach Schnapps.

All occupants denied involvement with marijuana. When the room’s owner eventually returned from the restroom, he claimed ownership for the alcohol and received the proper summons, Campus Police said. …

A victim reported a stolen bicycle on Thursday, Feb. 6, at 12 p.m, according to Campus Police.

The student said she left her Great Mountain bike locked to the bicycle rack outside Phelps hall before she left for winter break — over a month ago on Tuesday, Dec. 17.

Upon her return, it was missing.

The bike is valued at approximately $500, Campus Police said.

Freshmen are well ‘bread’ for competition

Courtney Wirths / Photo Editor

Freshman floors gather to partake in a peanut better and jelly sandwich-making competition to contribute food to the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen.

By Gabrielle Beacken News Assistant Student volunteers are cooking up something good. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich-making competition pit freshman floors against one another in the Travers/Wolfe Main Lounge on Thursday, Feb. 6, with each sandwich made going to benefit the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen. The culinary contest was part of a larger and still ongoing Community Competition.

“It’s the community aspect we’re striving for,” head of Wolfe Hall residence life Marvin Carter said. “We want to get everyone involved and have fun.”

Instead of simply creating sandwiches

from an assembly line, students had to pass a series of small tests in order to produce the perfect peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

“We wanted to make it as fun as possible,” community advisor and junior psychology major Nina Balicusto said. “We were brainstorming different ideas.”

The competition consisted of seven teams and five different floors from Wolfe and one from Brewster. Each team had its own sandwich-making table and one team advisor.

The sandwich-making process consisted of three parts. The first team member had to win two games of “rock, paper, scissors, shoot” against their team advisor. After this task was completed,

the team member would place two plain slices of bread on the table.

Next, the second team member had to answer a trivia question. The questions ranged from “What is another name for ‘sauce’?” to “From what tree do we get the bean necessary to make chocolate?”

Upon completion, the team member would spread peanut butter on one slice.

Upon applying the peanut butter, the third team member entered a brief session of Dance Dance Revolution. Advisors would call out commands, such as “left,” “front,” “right” and “back,” and once all dance moves were performed, the team member would spread the jelly and place the two prepared slices together.

Even after the closing of the competition, students stayed in the lounge to create even more sandwiches, still in the spirit of charity.

“We made sandwiches for the hungry, and that’s the ultimate goal,” freshman open options in Humanities and Social Sciences major Emily Maragni said.

The event proved to be a success with over 150 sandwiches ready to be donated to the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, according to Balicusto.

“It might just be peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, but it’s more than that,” community advisor and junior health and exercise science major Nick Luca said. “Every effort, no matter how big or small, can make a change.”

page 4 The Signal February 12, 2014

Inside Turing’s mind, troubled social outsider Docudrama ‘Codebreaker’ explores his tech genius

By Jackie Kraus Staff Writer It has become an almost foreign idea to not own a cell phone or computer of some shape or form in today’s world. Technology is nearly essential to everyday life in order to keep informed and communicate with the world. One can jump from Facebook to Microsoft Word to Flappy Bird in less than 30 seconds.

But how all of this is possible began with an algorithm of 0s and 1s from a man in the 20th century not enough people have heard of: Alan Turing.

Students gathered on Tuesday, Feb. 4, for a screening of the documentary film “Codebreaker,” which brings to light to the prominence of Turing’s work, considered by many to have been underrated in his time. The film was presented by the Department of Computer Science as part of the College’s intellectual theme this year, “Constructing the Past.”

“Codebreaker” is a docudrama that showcases Turing’s achievements as a World War II codebreaker, alongside anecdotes from his personal life, in which he struggled with homosexuality and government oppression that forced him into feeling like an outsider, despite his contributions to modern computer technology and biology.

“For me, I see (Turing) as sort of always being an outsider,” producer Patrick Sammon said. “He never fit in. He was a little kid with a mother who wanted him to wash his hands and study the classics,

AP Photo

Turing is caught between the burdens of genius and sexual identity. and he wanted to focus on math and do scientific experiments. Unfortunately, that ‘outsiderness’ ended up doing him in.”

“Codebreaker” was the term given to a team of individuals who worked in secret to intercept and decode German messages — a team that was selected based on their high level of intellect in various areas.

Turing’s formalized inventions of the first computing machines were not only revo-

lutionary to computer science and the basis of modern technology, but also helped save two million lives during the war.

The film also took a look inside Turing’s personal life, as told through the combination of professional opinion and a series of scenes acted out between Turing and his therapist, Franz Greenbaum.

Turing was relentlessly mistreated and arrested on behalf of his homosexual ac-

tions, undergoing chemical castration under a court rule that meant to “cure him of his desires.”

Ultimately, much of Turing’s life and work was never recognized until years after his suicide at age 41.

“It seems bizarre to me how the government would apply such an atrocious practice to a decorated war hero,” sophomore interactive multimedia major Chris Flannery said. “I guess that just reflects the times.”

“Codebreaker” has been viewed by about two million people around the world up to this point, according to Sammon, who held a Q&A forum following the film. Topics discussed during this session included theories on whether Turing’s death could have been murder, what Turing might have accomplished had he not had such a short life and anecdotes from Turing’s life.

“I had never heard of Alan Turing before watching the film, even though he created the basis for a lot of our technology we have today,” sophomore sociology major Mary Burns said. “But it’s sad that people look back and remember him more for his sexuality than for his accomplishments.”

Sodomy was decriminalized in the United Kingdom in 1967, just 13 years after Turing’s untimely death. In 2009, Prime Minister Gordon Brown finally apologized on behalf of the government.

“It’s a sad story,” Sammon said. “It’s an infuriating story. But I hope it’s also an inspiring story.”

February 12, 2014 The Signal page 5

Nation & W rld

Thousands of children reported dead in Syrian War

By Jonathan Machlin Staff Writer

AP Photo

Children make up 10 percent of the total deaths in Syria, the UN says.

A recent report by United Nations investigators revealed that children in Syrian government detention have been sexually abused, forced to fight against the opposition, tortured and used as human shields.

It was estimated that as many as 10,000 children have been killed since fighting began in March 2011.

On Monday, Jan. 27, investigators submitted a report to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, detailing the extent of abuse toward children by the Syrian government throughout the ongoing conflict in Syria, but the report was only made available to the public on Monday, Feb. 3. Within the report was a detailed listing of “grave violations against children” committed by the

Syrian government.

Among the listed violations were accounts of children as young as 11 held in government detention centers with adults, subjected to torture in order to coerce relatives to surrender or confess, according to witnesses.

“Ill treatment and acts tantamount to torture reportedly included beatings with metal cables, whips and wooden and metal batons; electric shocks, including to the genitals; the ripping out of fingernails and toenails; sexual violence, including rape or threats of rape; mock executions; cigarette burns; sleep deprivation; solitary confinement; and exposure to the torture of relatives,” the report said.

In addition, the report noted documented reports of sexual violence against children in government detention,

“perpetrated mostly by members of the Syrian intelligence services and the Syrian armed forces” against those who were suspected of being affiliated with the opposition.

The report also noted the use of Syrian children as human shields during operations by the military. In one instance, during Ramadan in 2011, government forces allegedly “used civilians, including at least eight children, as human shields, threatening to kill the children if the opposition did not surrender.”

Fayssal Mekdad, the Syrian deputy foreign minister, said about the report, “I categorically deny there are any children being detained. Those are rumors.”

At the time of the report, the Syrian death toll was at around 100,000, with the 10,000 children included in said figure.

Illinois Gov. candidate accused of sexual harrassment CHICAGO (AP) — A former employee in Illinois Treasurer Dan Rutherford’s office filed a federal lawsuit Monday claiming the Republican gubernatorial candidate made inappropriate sexual advances and regularly forced him to do political work on state time, allegations Rutherford has strongly denied.

Ed Michalowski, a former lawyer and director in Rutherford’s office, alleges in the lawsuit that Rutherford’s sexual advances began in April 2011, shortly after Michalowski began working in the office, and continued for more than two years.

The lawsuit also claims Rutherford asked Michalowski to set up meetings with potential donors for campaign contributions and organize parades and petition drives while he was working for the state.

Rutherford scheduled a news conference for late Monday afternoon to address the lawsuit.

The allegations come just weeks before the four-way GOP primary, and political analysts say they could severely damage Rutherford’s chances, particularly among the socially conservative voters who typically turn out to choose the Republican nominee. One political analyst called the claims “toxic.”

Rutherford has denied any wrongdoing and held an unusual, hastily arranged news conference Jan. 31 to announce that an unnamed employee had raised “allegations of misconduct” against him. Initially, Rutherford said he couldn’t detail the allegations because they were a personnel matter, but he later confirmed they involved harassment and political coercion.

“I know the accusations are completely false,” Rutherford told The Associated Press last week.

He said an independent investigation would clear his name and accused a Repub-

Around the World:

lican gubernatorial rival, businessman Bruce Rauner, of being behind the accusations in an attempt to undermine Rutherford’s campaign in advance of the March 18 primary. Rauner has denied the allegation.

Michalowski submitted a letter of resignation to Rutherford’s office last week. The lawsuit names both the treasurer and his chief of staff, Kyle Ham, who didn’t immediately return a message seeking comment.

In the lawsuit, Michalowski alleges that he attended an April 2011 overnight retreat at Rutherford’s Chenoa home. He says Rutherford told him other staff members would be there, but no one else arrived.

The lawsuit alleges that after Michalowski went to the guest bedroom that night, Rutherford entered the bedroom and grabbed his genital area. Michalowski says he pushed Rutherford away and later told Rutherford’s chief of staff about the incident. Michalowski

Iraq

Car bomb training turns deadly

AP Photo

A bomb unexpectedly set off in a car during training camp in Baghdad, killing 21 Iraqi millitants.

BAGHDAD (AP) — An instructor teaching his militant recruits how to make car bombs accidentally set off explosives in his demonstration Monday, killing 21 of them in a huge blast that alerted authorities to the existence of the rural training camp in an orchard north of Baghdad. Nearly two dozen people were arrested, including wounded insurgents trying to hobble away from the scene.

The fatal goof by the al-Qaida breakaway group that dominates the Sunni insurgency in Iraq happened on the same day that the speaker of the Iraqi parlia-

ment, a prominent Sunni whom the militants consider a traitor, escaped unhurt from a roadside bomb attack on his motorcade in the northern city of Mosul.

Nevertheless, the events underscored the determination of the insurgents to rebuild and regain the strength they enjoyed in Iraq at the height of the war until U.S.-backed Sunni tribesmen turned against them. The militants are currently battling for control of mainly Sunni areas of western Iraq in a key test of the Shiite-led government’s ability to maintain security more than

two years after the withdrawal of U.S. troops.

While the Iraqi army has been attacking insurgent training camps in the vast desert of western Anbar province near the Syrian border, it is unusual to find such a camp in the center of the country, just 95 kilometers (60 miles) north of the capital.

The discovery shows that “the terrorist groups have made a strong comeback in Iraq and that the security problems are far from over, and things are heading from bad to worse,” said Hamid alMutlaq, a member of the parliament’s security and defense committee.

The militants belonged to a network now known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, an extremist group that recently broke with alQaida. The ISIL, emboldened by fellow fighters’ gains in the Syrian civil war, has tried to position itself as the champion of Iraqi Sunnis angry at the government over what they see as efforts to marginalize them.

Car bombs are one of the deadliest weapons used by this group, with coordinated waves of explosions regularly leaving scores dead in Baghdad and elsewhere across the country. The bombs are sometimes assembled in farm compounds where militants can gather without being spotted, or in car workshops in industrial areas.

AP Photo

Illinois Treasuer Dan Rutherford rejects claims of sexual assault.

alleges the aide told him, “At least we have job security.”

Obscure & Offbeat

AP Photo

Fred, a former employee of the Gulfport Police Department.

Meth found in package

Authorities found a parcel containing two pounds of meth being mailed from California to Hawaii. A man facing charges said he was selling it to pay for his father’s cancer.

“Doggone” it...

A Belgian Malinois from Mississippi was fired from his K-9 position at Gulfport Police Department. The Harrison County Sheriff’s office, however, may hire him.

All information from AP

page 6 The Signal February 12, 2014

February 12, 2014 The Signal page 7

Editorial

The increasing cost of college

Since elementary school, we’ve had it drilled into our heads that it’s absolutely necessary to go to college. After all, “education leads to a better quality of life,” as Senate President Steve Sweeney said at a press conference I attended last Friday.

For some, it eventually becomes “no question” that they’ll attend college one day — even if they can’t afford it. Growing up, my family and I never once doubted that I would attend college. It was always something we just knew would happen once I graduated from high school.

At the press conference this past Friday, I learned that New Jersey has the second highest in-state tuition in the country. Including room and board, many students in the state spend well over $100,000 over the course of four years. And that’s the inexpensive option.

These days, many people’s lives revolve around being able to afford higher education. Parents save from the moment their kids are born, and many college kids are forced to work multiple part-time Photo courtesy of Louis Couture jobs in order to afford what’s supposedly essential. Students spend Sweeney offers insights on how to make the college experience more affordable. their college years stressed out juggling work, classes and activities, and, in many cases, they leave college without having a great fulltime job offer.

This past summer, I was fortunate enough to spend a couple of months in New York City. I lived in a dorm on the Upper East Side and met many different students from all around the country and even the world. I remember having one conversation with a group of kids from Scotland. They were shocked at how expensive it is to tcnjsignal.net go to college in the U.S. In fact, for them, furthering their education is practically free.

Email: signal@tcnj.edu Mailing Address: One of the biggest issues our country, and New Jersey in particu“It might just be a Telephone: lar, faces right now is the cost of college. Many students start out at Production Room The Signal a four-year school, only to drop out a year later because they can’t peanut butter and (609) 771-2424 c/o Brower Student Center afford it. Many others drop out because they realize a four-year colBusiness Office jelly sandwiches, The College of New Jersey lege simply isn’t for them.

(609) 771-2499 P.O. Box 7718 To many, the answer to being able to afford higher education is but it’s more than Ad Email: Ewing, NJ 08628-0718 community college. Teachers encourage students who don’t know signalad@tcnj.edu what career path to take to spend the first two years at home. And that. Every effort, many parents encourage their kids to attend county college, both to no matter how save money on tuition and room and board.

Editorial Staff Mylin Batipps But what I have noticed is that students don’t want to “just go to big or small, can Nation & World Editor community college.” To them, community college is like going to Amy Reynolds batippm1@tcnj.edu make a change.” high school for a 13th and 14th year. They want the prestige of leavEditor-in-Chief Mike Herold ing home, living on their own and experiencing something new and — Community Advisor reynola1@tcnj.edu Fantasy Sports Editor exciting — in many cases, though, students just want to say they go and junior health and Chris Molicki heroldm1@tcnj.edu to a “big name” school. exercise science major Managing Editor Jonathan Edmondson Sweeney, however, seems to have the answer to this problem. molickc1@tcnj.edu Review Editor Nick Luca.

Very recently, Gloucester County College in South Jersey was reJulie Kayzerman edmondj5@tcnj.edu named Rowan College of Gloucester County. According to SweeTom Kozlowski Regina Yorkigitis ney, students can acquire either a two- or four-year Rowan degree by “I’m a versatile News Editors Web Editor attending community college, at a 15 percent discount. This change, kayzerj1@tcnj.edu Jess Ganga actor. I do actually he says, will make it easier for students to afford higher education, a kozlowt1@tcnj.edu Web Assistant necessity in today’s world. like to play all Peter Fiorilla Gabrielle Beacken To me, though, this plan wasn’t completely thought out. There’s Sports Editor News Assistant nothing wrong attending community college — for many it’s the kinds of people, fiorilp1@tcnj.edu Andrew Grossman best option. But strongly encouraging, and sometimes even forcing, Shayna Innocenti Sports Assistant but the role that kids to go to college isn’t always the best option.

Arts & Entertainment Production Manager The first problem with “name branding” community colleges is brought me into Editor that it takes the prestige away from four-year colleges. I’ve taken a innoces1@tcnj.edu the public eye, of couple classes at Gloucester County College, and while they were Colleen Murphy Emilie Lounsberry helpful in that I gained some extra credits from them, I didn’t learn Ron Swanson, Features Editor Adviser much. The classes felt like high school classes, and the classes I take murphc16@tcnj.edu Lucas Haber at TCNJ are much more difficult. Plus, if more people are getting fourhe’s rather a Courtney Wirths Business/Ad Manager year degrees, more people will be forced to get their Master’s in order Opinions Editor manly customer. to stand out in the working world. That doesn’t save anyone money. wirthsc1@tcnj.edu There’s a huge misconception in people’s views on college. In And people Courtney Wirths high school, you’re taught that if you don’t go to college you’re esPhoto Editor want to see me sentially a failure. In fact, it’s better to go to college for a year or wirthsc1@tcnj.edu two and then drop out than to not have gone in the first place. Colplay manly guys. lege isn’t for everyone, and it’s important for kids to know that it’s OK to go to technical school or start working immediately after high When ‘Parks and school. Plumbers, hairdressers and electricians — just to name a few Rec’ is over, I’ll — all make a good living, and they won’t have the thousands of dollars of debt the rest of us will have in just a few short years. be looking to For me, my time and money spent attending the College has been do something as well worth it. I’ve invested my time working for The Signal, participating in many other on-campus organizations and making the most of unlike (Ron) as my classes. I’ve been fortunate enough to have been able to afford this experience, whereas others haven’t been so lucky. College is too expossible.” pensive, and something needs to be done to change it. But at the same — Comedian Nick Unsigned editorial opinions are those of the Editorial Board, time, we have to remember that it’s something that isn’t for everyone.

Offerman.

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February 12, 2014 The Signal page 9

Opinions

Effectiveness of firearm laws questioned

This article was written in response to Jacqia Scotton’s article,“Time to change the way we view gun control,” published on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2014.

Purchasing a gun in NJ is harder than many citizens think.

By Alexander Kamm The article on the same subject published in The Signal last week, while well-written, had some inherent flaws. In this piece, I will do my best to address what I believe to be flaws and explain how “easy” it is to get a firearm.

When researching the subject, one looks to gun control utopias, such as Detroit, and finds a murder rate that is over 10 times that of New Jersey, one has to wonder if more restriction actually combats the problem. Last week’s article suggests that this discrepancy can be explained by bordering states having lax laws.

AP Photo

I can speak from personal experience that when buying a firearm in another state, one must adhere to the laws of the state that they live in. Most Federal Firearms License holders who are licensed to sell firearms for a profit are not going to risk losing their business to sell a firearm illegally.

Furthermore, the sale of a firearm across state lines between unlicensed individuals is strictly prohibited.

Last week’s opinion piece on the same subject also reported that the U.S. experienced 88 deaths for every 100 people in the country, but the actual murder rate in 2012 was much

much lower — 4.7 per 100,000. Despite what news stories may lead you to believe, the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report reports that violent crime and murder as a whole are down to almost half of what they were 20 years ago.

Despite the ever-dropping violent crime figures, gun control remains the very opposite of “the elephant in the room.” The list of over 65 gun-related bills slated for discussion in the N.J. Senate for early 2014 suggests that it is quite the opposite. Despite their efforts, many of the laws passed in the N.J. Congress’ previous session have had little impact on crime.

One such example was passed through the N.J. House and Senate in 2013: S684.

In an attempt to combat urban crime, the bill banned a class of rifles that are large and cumbersome, cost over $10,000 and have never been used in the commission of a crime in New Jersey ever. Somehow, I wonder if the bill would have impacted any type of crime in N.J. had it not been vetoed.

But you are right about one thing: Guns aren’t the only factor in violent crime. So if one wishes to combat the problem of violent crime in America, they must be willing to address all of the factors. One often overlooked factor was recently highlighted by “60 Minutes.”

The state of mental health facilities in the U.S. are on a continual decline.

“60 Minutes” reports that even while the

population rises, the number of beds in mental health facilities has dwindled from over half a million to under 100,000.

Perhaps if facilities were available and the system more comprehensive, clinically ill people would have been able to get the treatment they so desperately needed before tragedies occurred. For example, the man responsible for the Washington Navy Yard shooting had previously reported to the police that he had been hearing voices and had unfounded suspicions that he was being followed.

Even while violent crime is at one of the lowest points in history, I agree that we as Americans can do more to reduce the figure. Despite this, I do feel that restricting the freedoms of law-abiding citizens will not produce the desired results.

The people who commit these crimes are not like you or me. The threat of an illegal weapons charge and its 10-year sentence ensure that you or I will not break the law.

On the contrary, to someone who is set on murdering, causing mayhem and accepting multiple life sentences in jail, the risk of an illegal weapons charge does nothing.

In that sense, all that many of these laws serve to do is restrict the freedoms of law-abiding citizens, but at the end of the day, we were never the problem to begin with. And so as I sit here typing, I wonder then if these tragedies say less about America’s gun control policies than they do about America as a whole.

Creationism causes biology lessons to suffer

By Frank Stabile

When it comes to religion in the United States, Christianity is the obvious powerhouse, both historically and presently. Nonetheless, America is not a Christian nation, no matter how often religious pundits say otherwise. In fact, the First Amendment to the Constitution guarantees exactly the opposite. On paper, America is a religiously neutral, secular country. Unfortunately, in practice, it has allowed religious influence to seep into the government.

One area where this occurs again and again is education, in particular the teaching of evolution. Unlike much of Europe, America is entrenched in the so-called debate between evolution and creationism, or the idea that life and the universe are the creation of a supernatural being. More recently, creationism has been repackaged under the name intelligent design, but the results are the same.

Students across the country receive a poor biology education thanks to the efforts of a small number of very intense religious groups and an idle government. In this article, I describe recent reports of creationism in the public school system and argue that the teaching of creationism weakens American education.

First, let me say this: I am not in the business of driving out any educator who mentions creationism. Classes in history and politics should focus on creationism where relevant. Courses on the history of science are practically obliged to discuss it. However, I resist any attempts to teach creationism in place of or alongside evolution using government money. Private institutions are free to do as they please, but when the government is involved, creationism does not have a place in the classroom.

Yet somehow, it still manages to creep through. In a recent piece in Slate titled, “Texas public schools are

teaching creationism,” Zack Kopplin reveals that Texas charter schools supported by the state are actively teaching intelligent design and attacking evolution. These schools serve more than 17,000 students, all of whom will graduate with a warped understanding of biology.

Slate followed up this piece with an article by Chris Kirk detailing the publicly funded schools that can teach creationism. His piece includes a map showing that hundreds of schools in Texas, Florida, Ohio, Indiana and Georgia currently teach creationism and laws in Louisiana and Tennessee allow schools to “teach the controversy.” These articles reveal the degree to which religion permeates science education in America. blah blah blah Unfortunately, public universities are also vulnerable to this problem. One prominent case occurred recently at Ball State University, a state college in Indiana. An assistant professor at the university was teaching a class focused on intelligent design and Christian explanations for the origin of the universe that counted as a science course in the curriculum.

Although the legality of this situation is less clear, the fact remains that a publicly funded university offered a course espousing one religious viewpoint in place of an actual science class. Professor Jerry Coyne from the University of Chicago thoroughly covered this affair on his site, “Why Evolution Is True,” where more details can be found. The point is that religious ideas, especially creationism, have leached into the American education system at multiple levels.

While it is undeniable that creationism is present in American schools, one may ask why these religious viewpoints are a problem. As mentioned above, one reason is the law. Americans enjoy not only freedom of religion, but also freedom from religion. The government cannot advocate one religion (or atheism) over others — either all get support or none do. Keep in mind that intelligent design is a Christian

doctrine and that other religious ideas are absent from public schools. In this situation, the teaching of creationism amounts to the government inadvertently or directly promoting Christianity. Such bias is unconstitutional and betrays the laws that guarantee every American freedom from religion. However, the problem goes deeper than the law. Teaching creationism instead of evolution is a disservice to American students, who leave school with a fundamental misunderstanding of biology that they may carry for their entire lives. When huge swathes of the population receive mediocre science education, America as a whole suffers.

Thankfully, all is not lost. Organizations like the Freedom from Religion Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union have done excellent work in defense of evolution and quality science education. Individuals concerned about the influence of religion on education should support these groups and stay informed and vigilant. How hard could it be? After all, as Christopher Hitchens once said, the only intelligent thing about intelligent design is the way they keep changing the name.

AP Photo

Creationism in schools creates limitations.

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page 10 The Signal February 12, 2014

Arts & Entertainment

Comedy / An Offerman you cannot refuse continued from page 1 Students familiar with Ron Swanson recognized Offerman’s talents immediately. The character and the actor behind him appeared to be so seamlessly blurred that the two were at times indistinguishable. Rule number four requested we eat red meat, Ron’s culinary trademark. Nearly every point made an impassioned appeal to woodworking, a discipline of Offerman’s on-and-off the show, and an appreciation for hard work. Sometimes deadpan and always direct, Offerman’s performance meshed the dynamic of a theater actor with Swanson’s comedic qualities, combining to create a stage presence as funny as it was thespian.

What many didn’t expect was how unrestrained Offerman could be — and not just swaggering on stage without a shirt.

“Rule number eight,” Offerman said, “is to maintain a relationship with Jesus … if it is getting you sex.”

Dominating his tips to prosperity was a discussion of sex and religion, an edgy cocktail to serve. During rule number eight, Offerman dove into his teenage ploy to feign a born-again Christian attitude, all to sleep with a high-school crush.

“The two key ingredients are Christian

guilt and sinful anticipation,” Offerman said.

Offerman’s follow-up rule: “Use intoxicants (responsibility),” in which he strung up his guitar to perform Carrie Underwood’s “Jesus Take the Wheel,” only this time christened as “Jesus Take the Weed.”

Yet, all at once, Offerman was feeding a broccoli-laden lecture to an audience eating from the palm of his hand. Beyond the chuckles and hilarious vulgarity, Offerman stressed the socially-conscious values he personally believes in, from a respect for marriage equality to the fundamental need to develop a personal hobby or discipline.

“When you can make something with your hands, it’s not nerdy, it’s actually super-sexy,” Offerman said in rule number five. “Who would you rather be attracted to? Someone who can text fast, or someone who knit the dress that she’s wearing?”

Offerman is keenly aware of the cultural environment circulating around America.

Times are changing. Some traditions hang proudly, while others resist modernity. As much as Offerman and Ron Swanson seem to be one in the same, it was not Swanson’s ideology that delivered the message on stage — that was entirely Offerman and his system of values, sorting through the principles we

should keep and the ones to be discarded.

His individuality also came as a surprise to those who see so much mystique behind Offerman’s on-screen demeanor. Offerman admitted to sharing certain characteristics of Swanson’s lovable all-American zeal, but there’s again a difference between the character and the man behind him.

“I got the job when I was 38, and at the time, I had about three values — now I have seven,” Offerman joked in an interview. “So, from playing Ron, I share a lot of (his) sensibilities, but I certainly don’t suffer fools gladly. I’m not a fan of big government either, but Ron’s a masterfully written comedy character. He’s a little more clear-cut in his ideology than I am.”

Yet, as times change, so does Offerman’s career path. He “never dreamed he’d get a job as good as ‘Parks and Recreation,’” but after nearly six seminal years as Ron Swanson, there are new roles to fill.

“I’m a versatile actor,” Offerman said. “I do actually like to play all kinds of people, but the role that brought me into the public eye, Ron Swanson, he’s a rather manly customer. And people want to see me play manly guys. When ‘Parks and Rec’ is over, I’ll be looking to do things as unlike (Ron) as possible. I feel like I’ve had a wonderful

Vicki Wang / Photo Assistant

Offerman offers the shirt off his back.

smörgåsbord of manliness, and now maybe it’s time to play a ballet dancer.”

Whatever he puts his talents to, Offerman has always been more than the masculine paragon that heads the Pawnee Parks Department. It’s hard to imagine him in a white, powdered wig and Victorian accent, but that was his training, versatility being the key to his life’s work. It’s even harder to break the Swanson stereotype. But being the archetypical American man has always meant more to Offerman than the comedy — it’s about eloquence, diligence and passion, all with a dirty joke thrown in at the end for good measure.

Foreign film ‘The Hunt’ is an Oscar contender

AP Photo

Mikkelsen’s performance brings audience to his defense.

By Brooke Schmidt Correspondent

When it comes to the Oscar

nominations, many people fixate on the more well-known categories: Best Actor/Actress, Best Actor/Actress in a Supporting Role

and Best Picture. However, many times, gold is found in the lesserknown categories.

“The Hunt” is a film from Denmark that is nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.

The movie revolves around Lucas (Mads Mikkelsen), who works at a kindergarten school and is finally getting his life together after separating from his wife.

All attempts to return to normalcy, however, are shattered after false allegations arise claiming that Lucas was involved in pedophilia with one of the kindergarten students (Annika Wedderkopp).

The events in “The Hunt” reminded me of the Salem Witch Trials, because one child claimed pedophilia, and then many of the

other kindergarteners soon followed in suit.

Even though the audience knows the allegations made against Lucas are false, the entire town begins to believe the child. Good friends and neighbors turn against Lucas, making his life increasingly more difficult. It was like watching a close, personal friend have to go through such hellish circumstances.

These scenes proved very difficult to watch, and I found myself flinching over and over again at what Lucas had to go through — sometimes I was provoked to the point where I was even yelling at the screen.

I have always been able to tell when I like a movie by how angry or upset it makes me, and if my anger toward the townspeople was any indication, I really liked

“The Hunt.”

The acting was superb, making the audience sympathize with Lucas and hope for his happy ending.

The audience was made to become progressively angrier with the townspeople and even the little girl who caused everything to go downhill.

While “The Hunt” may have been difficult to watch, the scenes were shot beautifully, and everything was put together so well that I believe it deserves its current standing in Oscar nominations.

However, since I have yet to see the other nominated films, I cannot say whether it has a high chance of taking home the Oscar.

“The Hunt” is currently available on Netflix, where it can be viewed using English subtitles.

Fresh student talent dominates the Rat

By Kimberly Ilkowski Correspondent

The Rathskeller was bursting with energy on Friday, Feb. 7, for student band night, featuring three bands that all brought their own unique style to the stage.

The first act, Funktimus Prime, was impossible to ignore — wearing matching bow ties, pastel pink suit vests and royal blue dress shirts.

The trio consisted of keyboardist Chris Golon, a senior mechanical engineering major, drummer Alex Manoksi, a senior electrical engineering major, and Eddie Spencer, a senior computer engineering major playing the electronic wind instrument — something many in the audience had never seen.

“It’s a MIDI controller that lets me play basically any sound imaginable,” Spencer said.

The band’s performance was entirely instrumental and showcased their electronic,

upbeat and funky sound.

For senior biology major Sarah Mereby, this was her first show experience at the Rat. “I actually came out to support my boyfriend and his band,” she said after they wrapped up a 45-minute set.

The next act to take the stage was Event Horizon, led by Jake Perlman, a junior biology major, on vocals and rhythm guitar, Thomas Sarris, also a junior biology major, on lead guitar, Kyle Bennion, a junior history major, on drums, and Dom Portera, a freshman interactive multimedia studies major, on bass.

The progressive rock/metal band powered through a covers set featuring songs

by Led Zeppelin, Incubus, Nirvana, Mastodon, Opeth and Dream Theater.

Freshman elementary education major Robert Kinloch came out to see his floormate in action.

“It was awesome to see Dom and his

band perform,” Kinloch said. “It was a lot of fun and cool to see a different side of Dom you wouldn’t see just by saying hi to him or passing by him on campus.”

The show certainly gave the audience a new appreciation for the musicians.

The show wrapped up with indie rock unit, The Hot Sweats, who have been performing in bands together since they were in middle school.

The band, made up of Matthew Pignatore, a senior marketing major, on guitar and vocals, Nick Salandra, a senior civil engineering major at Rutgers University, on drums, and Pat Morin, on bass, rocked all original material for the crowd.

“We have a bit of pop and a bit of punk in us,” Pignatore said of the band’s sound.

Check out the bands’ pages on Facebook to learn more.

Photo by Kimberly Illowski

Event Horizon plays covers of Led Zeppelin and Nirvana at the Rat.

February 12, 2014 The Signal page 11

Mixed Signals host a ‘Classy Night’

By Mike Herold Fantasy Sports Editor

There was a fancy gathering on Saturday, Feb. 8, in the Library’s basement auditorium, as the College’s own improvisational comedy troupe, the Mixed Signals, delivered their annual “Classy Night” show of skits and games made up on the spot.

The yearly show was intertwined with a Valentine’s Day theme, with games such as Secret Valentine, Dating Game, Honeymooners and Crazy Prov, entertaining the packed house.

The show was a first-time experience for the three newest members of the Mixed Signals, as sophomore computer science and interactive multimedia double major Matthew Steuerer, freshmen interactive

multimedia major Beau Aranosian and physics education major Maxwell Calsetta performed with the group, bringing the total number of performers up to 12 — which one might expect would make placement of members in specific games a difficult task.

“Not particularly,” senior computer science major Graham Mazie said of the task.

“We decide who is playing what game depending on seniority in the troupe. We love our noobs.”

The other Signals were quick to agree.

“It’s always a challenge to add new members to the group, but that’s why we spend so much time auditioning and training the new members before we perform with them,” junior marketing major Garrett Verdone said. “We want to make sure everyone

is comfortable performing with one another.

Once we’re all comfortable performing together, it’s not an issue to incorporate them into the show.”

A notable part of the Mixed Signals shows is how quickly the short scenes tend to escalate into wild scenarios — what begins as an innocent tale about love-struck schoolgirls can quickly turn into a scene involving multiple stabbings and a stun gun.

“Scenes are usually very short. That’s the nature of short-form comedy,” said Jonathan Dowler, senior history and secondary education dual major and the Mixed Signals president. “To have a good scene, you want to tell a story, but you have to do it in about five minutes.

So you go in, make the characters relatable, and show the audience what kinds

of shenanigans people can get into.”

The escalation, it seems, is perhaps the only planned part of these improvised shows.

“Escalation is sort of like a tool we use for our scenes,” Verdone said. “No matter what the scene is about, we try to put ourselves in the mindset to take whatever the audience has given us and take it to extreme places (whether the audience wanted us to, or not). It keeps things exciting for us and for our viewers.”

Of course, the viewers are the reason for all the crazy things the Signals do onstage.

“Escalation is funny,” Mazie said. “Everyone likes seeing the progression of a joke. It makes the audience feel in on it, and it gives the scene somewhere to go.”

The audience at the Signals’ “Classy Night” certainly seemed to enjoy the show.

‘The Lego Movie’ brings childhood toys to life

By Zach Dzierzgowski Staff Writer

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if “Harry Potter,” “Lord of the Rings,” “Superman,” “Batman,” “My Little Pony,” “The Matrix,” “Fahrenheit 451,” “Pirates of the Caribbean,” “Tower Heist,” “Star Wars” and “Forest Gump” all combined together as one movie?

I never had until I saw “The Lego Movie,” and it was arguably the most ridiculous, over-the-top cinema I have ever seen.

I had no intentions of seeing “The Lego Movie” — I feared it would be a two-hour advertisement and subliminal messaging.

Maybe the film did alter my subconscious, but it was well worth it to see one of the most creative and hysterical children’s flicks in years.

Jam-packed with tongue-incheek humor, the film follows the sweet story of an ordinary construction worker named Emmet

Brickowoski (Chris Pratt) and his journey to save the Lego Universe from the evil Lord Business (Will Ferrell).

With the help of Vitruvius (Morgan Freeman), Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks) and Batman (Will Arnett), Emmet must learn to think outside the box if he is to fulfill the prophecy and assume his role as “the Special.”

Along his epic path, Emmet meets all sorts of familiar characters, such as Abraham Lincoln and William Shakespeare. He also meets some not-so-familiar characters, like a cat-unicorn-hybrid called UniKitty and the pirate, Metal Beard.

Not surprisingly, within the film’s Lego Universe, everything is made out of LEGOs, including shower water, car explosions, overpriced lattes and train exhausts — everything is made of those itty-bitty pieces.

Conventional physics flies out

the window in Lego Land as all matter takes the form of plastic building blocks.

The movie uses computer animation and CGI to create a stopmotion experience for viewers, which makes the Lego-vibe feel all the more authentic. Seeing the colorful brick world come to life before your eyes will have you feeling nostalgic for childhood.

To say the movie is excessive is an understatement.

As the plot unfolds, the characters travel among the various parts of the Lego Cosmos. There’s a bustling metropolis — “Middle Zealand” with its knights, catapults and dragons — the wild “Old West,” flamboyant “Cloud Cuckooland and several other zany locales.

Though “Lego” uses these settings as a means of marketing their many products, the film moves so quickly that you hardly have time to process the play-set promotions.

Furthermore, what makes the

the kitchen table.

The novel’s heartbreaking dialogue and poignant moments explore love, what it means to be a part of a family and the instantaneous tumble from life’s childhood ease.

Three-fourths of the novel focuses on the brothers’ youth. It captures their playfulness, naiveté and devotion to each other. Each chapter is a vignette, reflecting on the neglect and pain of their childhood memories, hollow and echoing lonely, empty sounds.

The narrator does not paint an idealistic image of childish wonder and hopeful reverie, which is part of the reason why this is such an engaging and thoughtful read.

Instead of sugarcoating his life and his family, the narrator exposes the dark, gray areas of his past and present in order to come to terms with who he is.

This is a novel of discovery.

Though it ends too abruptly and the last 15 pages or so lack the rawness a good portion of the book boasts, it’s a novel that is brutally self-aware.

A relatively quick read, it will leave you contemplating your own family and yourself as a member.

By Shayna Innocenti Arts & Entertainment Editor

AP Photo

LEGOs prove to be able to support a plot and entertain.

“Lego Movie” so brilliant is its fundamental, underlying question: Build by the book or create from your heart?

The story is formed around the all-too-real conflict that all children face when they pick up a box of LEGOs: “Should I build a pirate ship like the instructions say? What if I really want to build a spaceship?”

The movie offers a heartwarming message to people of all ages

about the dangers of blind compliance and urges viewers to embrace their creativity.

For a film based around tiny, plastic blocks, the questions it tackles are remarkably sophisticated, and the ending takes an oddly beautiful, philosophic turn.

Uniting childhood innocence, zany characters and even some existentialism, “The Lego Movie” is far from the traditional underdog tale you expect at its start.

become the ‘Dominican Tolkien’ and he wanted to fall in love.”

Ultimately, Oscar fell in love. He fell for a 37-year-old partly retired prostitute. This woman was also Oscar’s undoing. Oscar was shot in a sugarcane field for having an affair with her.

The reconstruction of the Dominican dictatorship and Dominican history that takes a reader as far back as the arrival of Christopher Columbus is the second story found in the novel.

“Oscar is a small story of a really big story in the Dominican history,” Landreau said.

The third story is the one that Landreau deemed the most important, despite being obliquely told: Yunior’s story. Through much of the novel, Landreau described Yunior as being having an “ugly” personality that was very self-oriented.

“Oscar taught Yunior what it means to be a Dominican and also how to be a man,” Landreau said.

The actual multi-layered plotline is only one incredible aspect of Díaz’s novel. Díaz wrote this historical work with a fantasy-driven twist and utilized multiple languages.

“A reader cannot know all of the settings, characters and places,”

Landreau said.

The book makes references to multiple comic book characters and even “The Lord of the Rings” to help further explain the unimaginable and horrific circumstances that the Dominican people faced under dictatorship.

The bilingual aspect of the novel and lack of translation allows readers to walk away from the novel with different views.

“The reader enters the world as a disoriented immigrant and the book orients the reader with both familiar and unfamiliar language,” Landreau said. “It is just a wild ride.”

‘We the Animals’ ‘Oscar Wao’ tackles fantasy

By Alexa Logush Correspondent

A blend of fragmented sentences, complicated imagery and delicate narration, “We the Animals”

by Justin Torres is as familiar as it is far removed.

The short novel follows the story of three brothers as they grow into their teenage years. A curious band of crude imps, they describe themselves as the Three Musketeers, Alvin and the Chipmunks and the Holy Spirit.

The narrator, an empathetic observer, watches as his family is torn apart and pieced together again. The youngest brother, who possesses no name, comes to separate himself from his older brothers when he grows older.

“We the Animals” offers a rhythmic style, crowing and calling as the brothers do. The novel’s events are artfully described through the eyes of a child. The hunger is real and the passion tangible. As readers, we can feel their empty stomachs and taste their dry tongues, when we read about their mother’s neglect as they’re sitting in front of empty plates at

Students gathered in the Business Building lounge on Thursday, Feb. 6, for a festive close reading by professor John Landreau about the novel “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” by Junot Díaz.

Díaz is a Dominican-American writer who won a Pulitzer for fiction in 2008.

Landreau explained that the novel tells three beautifully described and tragic intertwined stories that are narrated by Yunior, a Dominican from Paterson, N.J. who decided he needed to research and retell the life of Oscar Wao, a Dominican who was killed at the age of 23. Landreau explained that the novel implies that Yunior spent years compiling research on Wao’s life.

The first story of the novel is the retelling of Oscar Wao’s life.

“Oscar was an outlier, who sometimes would wear an out-ofstyle afro,” Landreau said.

He was socially introverted, overweight and was deemed a “nerd” who read and wrote science fiction and fantasy novels.

“Oscar had two goals in life,” Landreau said. “Oscar wanted to

Courtney Wirths / Photo Editor

The wild ride of Oscar Wao.

page 12 The Signal February 12, 2014

Features

The College’s Circle K largest in NJ

By Andreia Bulhao Columnist

While most of the campus community spent the week bundled up and snowed in, a few dedicated clubs met to take care of business, one of those being Circle K. The club is an international organization, which branches from the Kiwanis family. There are over 12,000 members worldwide with a total of 500 clubs in 18 different countries. The mission of the organization is to encourage students to engage in campus and community service.

Once a smaller organization on campus, Circle K has grown tremendously in the last year. Jumping to 75 members, the club is the largest division of Circle K in the state of New Jersey, with an association greater than schools such as Rutgers University.

“I like to think that the executive

board this year is really passionate and for the most part we’re really self-motivated. Also I think we really try to have a lot of events and a lot of us on the board try to think in terms of ‘oh, what would make me want to join the club?’ That’s a big part of it,” senior communication studies major and Circle K president Christine Rehm said of the club’s thriving membership.

The club is known not only for volunteering in the surrounding community, but also for hosting campus-wide events to encourage students to get involved. Circle K holds Zumbathons to raise money for charity and also hosts on-campus blood drives. At the start of this semester, the club also hosted the Winter Social for the New Jersey District here at the College. The event brought a total of 100 people in attendance and raised $945. Proceeds were donated

to the Eliminate Project, a partnership with Kiwanis International and UNICEF dedicated to raising money to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus.

The club also takes the opportunity to work with members of the Ewing and Trenton communities.

Much of their service includes venturing out and working with other campus organizations, such as The Bonner Center, to tutor children, as well as volunteering at the TASK soup kitchen and the Ewing animal shelter. Rehm also considers the club’s effort to get off campus a reason why students at the College have come to find joining appealing.

“We do a lot of fundraising, but what I think is more enjoyable is actually going to places and

actually doing something as opposed to just raising money and I think a lot of our members really enjoy that,” she said.

In addition, Circle K works with a sponsoring Kiwanis club located in Ewing. The sponsor club is an organization that branches from the Kiwanis family, like Circle K. This organization, however, is made up of members of the Ewing community who volunteer within their neighborhoods. Circle K works closely with these sponsors to take part in more service projects within the area.

It is no secret that the Ewing community and the College have had poor relations in the past, but by getting involved with members directly in the community,

the club hopes to establish a better association between the College and Ewing residents.

“I think a lot of it is building good relations with the community, especially Ewing. I know (the College) really doesn’t have the best relationship with Ewing and I think community service definitely helps that,” Rehm said.

Circle K is not only a club based here at the College, but also expands its services worldwide. Its members stress that it is much bigger than most people think and that it is important to acknowledge this level of service and what it does for those directly affected by it.

“I hope especially with the new members they realize it’s not just our club at (the College), it’s a bigger organization and that they take the opportunity to meet people all over the world because you really get that opportunity with this club,” Rehm said.

Twelve new Olympic events are added

AP Photo

Kotsenberg nabs the first-ever gold in Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle.

By Colleen Murphy Features Editor

Finally, the Games have arrived.

3,000 athletes from 88 countries officially kicked off the Winter Olympics last Friday, Feb. 7, with the Opening Ceremonies. There has already been fierce competition in the first several days. There have been triumphs: 15-year-old Russian figure skater Yulia Lipnitskaya, who some are calling the Russian doll. And there have been upsets: Americans Bode Miller and Hannah Kearney. As always, the Olympics are proving to be quite

exciting. But this year is especially thrilling because of the 12 new events introduced.

According to NBC, “the International Olympic Committee added the events to provide a newer, fresher and more youthful flare to the Games, including many XGames equivalent events for 2014.”

We’ve already seen a couple of the new events — Americans Jamie Anderson and Sage Kotsenburg both took gold in the first-ever Olympic Snowboard Slopestyle, while the American figure skating team took bronze in Figure Skating Team.

There are still eight events that we have not yet seen, though. And before they are aired, here is a basic rundown of what to expect: Women’s Ski Jumping: You know when the men go down a long hill, jump off of it, fly with their legs stretched and then land? Well, now you’ll be seeing girls do that, too. America is expected to win big in this event with Sarah Hendrickson and Lindsey Van. Biathlon Mixed Relay: Two women and two men make up one team in this event that combines cross-country skiing and shooting. The women ski the first two legs while the men race the last two. Each person shoots twice and the lowest combined time wins.

Ski Halfpipe (Men and Women): As one article on NBC put it, “Picture Shaun White doing flips, jumps, twists and turns on a snowboard — now picture him doing the same maneuvers on skis.”

Ski Slopestyle (Men and Women): If you saw Snowboard Slopestyle, this will be look very similar, except the athletes will be on skis. It is a downhill course with obstacles, including hills and rails.

Snowboard Parallel Slalom: NBC’s explanation is simple — “Two snowboarders race side-by-side down identical courses. There are no judges scoring. First one down wins.”

Luge Team Relay: This relay is made up of three teams — a doubles sled, a women’s single sled and a men’s single sled — and the fastest combined team wins.

With so many more events to go, including these new ones, it looks like the Games can only get better.

AP Photo

Women’s Ski Jumping is just one of 12 new events added this year.

Clint Eastwood is a true American hero

Eastwood went ahead and made someone’s day.

By Johnanthony Alaimo Columnist

Let the games begin. The Winter Olympics have officially begun as of last

AP Photo

Friday, Feb. 7, in the Russian city of Sochi. What a perfect location to host the games, as the Russians are famous for their camaraderie, duress and the ability to strike fear into the hearts of millions.

The Sochi Games have been under fire for months, ever since the enactment of a law that banned “LGBT propaganda,” which means you basically can’t say or do anything gay. So if you thought you were gonna catch up on some “Will & Grace” DVDs in the Olympic Village, forget it. Want Pink Berry? You better keep your mouth shut.

Enjoying Beyoncé’s new album? Chuck that iPod off the mountain you’re sliding down. Some have called for a boycott of the Games. But no country has done so and instead have sent a number of out athletes to show Russia that even if you’re gay, you can totally shred anyway.

Where was Clint Eastwood when President George W. Bush choked on a pretzel? The 83-year-old actor recently saved a man from choking to death.

Eastwood sprung to the rescue of Steve John, an executive at an event he was attending. The man apparently had a piece of cheese lodged in his throat. Honestly, that’s the way I’d wanna go. Good ol’ Eastwood prevented that from happening to Mr. John, though. After the event, Eastwood pointed out he never performed the Heimlich maneuver before. Is there anything this man can’t do?

Oprah would definitely have oneupped Eastwood. She would have sucked the cheese right out of his mouth. You know how Oprah hates to see food go to waste. The media mogul/ Leader of the Free World is in talks to debut on Broadway. Apparently, Oprah would star in “‘Night, Mother,” which I’m assuming is about the time Oprah sent Stedman to bed without dinner.

FABULOUS. I’m all for Oprah winning a Tony. She needs more men to own.

February 12, 2014 The Signal page 13

Valentine’s Day movie ideas

Campus Style

By Jordan Koziol and Heather Hawkes Columnists Sophomore finance major Billy Pekarsky and sophomore political science major P.J. Simonelli are sharp-dressed best friends and roommates, making the College their runway one day at a time.

Fanpop.com

‘Enchanted’ is such a clever movie and it’s a great option for Friday.

By Colleen Murphy Features Editor

Valentine’s Day is this week. For some, that is amazing news. For others, it’s depressing news. And some just don’t care.

Still, it is a holiday, and it should be celebrated in some capacity — even if that means just watching a movie with a good love story with your significant other, a group of friends or by yourself. Here’s a list of movies that would be perfect for this Friday: “Valentine’s Day.” Duh. “Leap Year.” Amy Adams and Matthew Goode star in this adorable story about unexpected love. That description sounds like it’s just like any other romantic movie, but it’s actually, really good.

“Enchanted.” This just might be the cutest movie ever, and if you don’t agree, you have no heart.

“Spider-Man.” That kiss. Plus, it’s an awesome movie.

“Warm Bodies.” It’s a zombie movie, a comedy and a love story all rolled into one. What more do you want?

“Say Anything.” Doesn’t everyone want John Cusack standing outside their window with a boombox held over his head? Classic.

“The Notebook.” I don’t think that this list would be considered valid if this movie wasn’t on it.

“The Vow.” You’ve got Channing Tatum for the ladies and Regina George — I mean, Rachel McAdams ­— for the guys. It’s such a good movie and shows what true love really is.

“Endless Love.” There have been so many commercials for this movie, I think it would be wrong of all of us not to go and see it when it comes out this Friday. It’s also from the people who brought us “The Vow,” so it already has that going for it.

Happy watching — whether with someone else or by yourself. And Happy Valentine’s Day!

Who is your style inspiration?

PJ: Ron Burgundy from “Anchorman.”

He wears great burgundy suits, just like the one I have on.

Billy: My floormates, Zach Vasilenko and Billy Schwartz. They can pull off great looks with jean material.

We have been noticing a lot of guys getting creative with their sock choices. Do you have a favorite pair or material you like to sport?

Billy: Argyle socks.

PJ: Definitely wool for the winter.

As roommates, do you inspire each other?

PJ: Yes. Billy and I both have an affinity for unique clothing. We egg each other on with bolder pieces. Right now we are wearing suits, but we definitely shake it up sometimes.

Favorite piece in your wardrobe?

PJ: I like eclectic pieces of clothing, so probably any one of my unique Hawaiian shirts. I also like suits because people take me more seriously.

Billy: I like hat-wear. My go-to accessory is a bucket hat.

Where is your favorite place to shop?

PJ: Goodwill in Trenton.

Billy: Macy’s.

How old were you when your mom stopped picking out your outfits and you started wearing your own creations?

Billy: The second grade. It was time to be a man.

PJ: She actually picked this out.

What is your style mantra?

PJ: “I hope people don’t give me weird looks today in this.”

Billy: “It’s fine, as long as PJ is wearing something weirder than I am.”

Jordon Koziol / Columnist

Roommates Pekarsky and Simonelli both have a unique style.

California in desperate need of some rain

Communitites at risk of running out of water

AP Photos

Last year, California was 15 inches under its average rainfall level. Many beaches, rivers and lakes have receded a significant amount. The drought has also led to many wildfires, some of which are nearing homes. Many rural areas are at risk of running out of water.

By Neha Vachhani Columnist If you live in the northeast, it’s no secret that there have been some severe drops in temperature for the past few weeks. As you reap the perks of classes canceled due to icy roads, take a moment to consider the effects of climate change in other areas of the country. The ongoing drought in California has not only left residents with little water, but also invoked wildfires.

The possibility of many impoverished and rural areas of California running out of water is becoming a staggering reality.

Over 17 communities on the west coast are at risk of running out of water in as soon as 60 days.

California only received seven inches of rain last year, a fraction of the average 22 inches. The shortage in rainfall results in wells running dry, as well as low water levels in numerous reservoirs. Many are unaware of and simply do not care about the drought in California, since those on the east coast have their own climate troubles to deal with. However, the bone-dry atmosphere of the West does impact the rest of the country. The agricultural industry in California accounts for a significant

amount of crop sales throughout the United States. The scarcity of water has left farmers in dilemma of raising prices and troubling the public. The smaller farms are in peril of drying up completely.

Livestock have less to eat due to the lack of sufficient grass. Grape growers of Napa Valley have noticed their grapes ripening early, causing chaos amongst wineries in the state. The agricultural community in California is struggling to make ends meet in order to provide for not only their state, but also for the country as a whole.

In addition to the food industry suffering,

the environment is quickly disintegrating due to the baked state California remains in. Although wildfires are common throughout the state, the month of January has been affected with an astonishing 406 wildfires. Compared to the average 69 fires around this time of year, the increasing number is leaving residents helpless and afraid. In this time of predicament, Californians have come together to search for an end to the misery. The next time you complain about the heating bill, be grateful that the east coast snow does not wreak havoc half as badly as the west coast dry spell does.

page 14 The Signal February 12, 2014

Spring 2014 Career & Internship Fair Friday, February 28, 2014 Rec Center 9AM 9AM-- 1PM Sampling of Employer Representatives

Profit

Johnson & Johnson

Visual Computer Solutions

Accutest Laboratories

JP Morgan Chase

Whiting-Turner Contracting

AdMed, Inc.

KPMG

WithumSmith+Brown

Aerotek

Lab Support

Non-Profit

Arete Inc.

Marathon Data Systems

Alternatives Inc.

AXA Advisors

Matlen Silver

CISabroad

BioClinica

Mercadien

Educational Testing Service (ETS)

Blinds To Go

News America Marketing

Peace Corps

Brainerd Communications, Inc

Nordson EFD

CBIZ Valuation Group, LLC

Northeast Planning Corporation

SERV Behavioral Health System, Inc.

CDW

Northwestern Mutual– Olson

The Arc Mercer

Chubb

Northwestern Mutual– Savino

United Way, Monmouth County

Cintas

Pennoni Associates

Womanspace

CIT Group, Inc.

PeopleShare

Government

CohnReznick, LLP

Pickering, Corts, & Summerson, Inc.

New Jersey Judiciary

Philadelphia Insurance Co.

U.S. Dept. of Transportation

PwC

U.S. Secret Service

Deloitte Destination Athlete, LLC Enterprise Rent A Car EY Ferguson First Investors Corporation Gannett/NJ Press Media Grant Thornton LLC Guardian Life Insurance Co. Health Care Software, Inc. Hub City Media, Inc. Hunterdon Academy of the Arts J&L Marketing

U.S. DEA

Rosetta SHI International Corporation Six Flags Great Adventure

... And more!

Sobel Target Therapeutic Outreach, Inc. Townsquare Media- NJ 101.5 Unum UPS Urban Engineers, Inc. CO-SPONSORS For updated list, please check the Career Center website: www.tcnj.edu/career

February 12, 2014 The Signal page 15

Lions Fantasy World

Nothin’ But Net

Before I start this thing for real, let me tell you something: This is the second time I’ve rewritten this column.

The first time around, this column was about how Damian Lillard is participating in all five events this weekend at the NBA’s All-Star celebrations, making him the first player to do so.

The second column concerned a push made a few days ago by fans of the Detroit Pistons to have Rasheed Wallace hired as their head coach, which I thought was absolutely hilarious.

Neither of those is now good enough to appear in print.

This has happened once before — last year I had to scrap a column at the last minute because of breaking news, news which was very, very similar to the reason I had to switch things up this time around. That news didn’t end up amounting to much, but this one has a good chance to make some great changes to sports as we know them in the U.S. today.

Michael Sam, co-Defensive Player of the year for the SEC and a presumptive early round draft pick in the NFL this year, just announced to the world that he is gay.

When this happened last, it was Jason Collins, a longtime veteran role player for the NBA, who came out. He was set to be the first openly gay active male athlete in the four major professional American sports, and the world (or at least the U.S. sports world) waited with bated breath to see how he would be received by his peers. As of this moment, he has still not been signed by a team, and may never play in the NBA again.

Sam is different — while Collins was older and not highly desired before his announcement, Sam is on his way up and brimming with youth and talent, and so he will not be easily ignored. Some NFL team will draft him, because unlike Collins, there is no legitimate reason not to do so. Unless the NFL really is anti-gay, which I sincerely hope is not the case.

The story of how the openly gay Michael Sam will fit into the NFL cannot be written until he is drafted, but the story of Michael Sam, openly gay defensive lineman on Missouri’s football team, is already finished. Here’s how that story went: Sam came out to his team — to only a few teammates at first — then to the whole team, and he was not rejected. The locker room didn’t implode, the Tigers finished 12-2 and won the Cotton Bowl, and Sam was voted as the team’s MVP. That’s a pretty boring story. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that’s exactly how most rational people thought this story might go. That’s what makes this all so incredible.

A long time ago, some thought that people of different religions didn’t belong in sports. Hank Greenberg, baseball Hall of Famer, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, basketball Hall of Famer, were among the many to prove them wrong. They thought that African Americans did not belong in sports.

Jackie Robinson proved them wrong. Now, some people think that gay athletes do not belong in sports.

Prove them wrong, Michael Sam. Prove them all wrong.

Just play football.

By Mike Herold Fantasy Sports Editor

The Scoreboard

Fantasy Guys (15-0) Owner: Mike Herold

Love Train (11-4) Owner: Gabe Allen

Team Amaral (10-5) Owner: Marco Amaral

Team Matos (3-12) Owner: Rob Matos

Team Jha (0-15) Owner: Ashray Jha

Team Molicki (6-9) Owner: Chris Molicki

Rasheed Wallace (6-9) Owner: Pete Fiorilla

Off the Backboard (11-4) Owner: Bryan Dunphy-Culp

Team Vazquez (9-6) Owner: Victor Vazquez

Team Reynolds (4-11) Owner: Amy Reynolds

1758 1679 1398 1179 786 1302 842 1293 1524 869

Fantasy Player of the Week

AP Photo

I May Be Wrong, But...

Here’s what I would do in Fantasy Basketball this week: Add: This isn’t exactly an addition to most teams, but Chris Paul is back from his injury just in time to play in the All-Star game. If, by some crazy chance, someone dropped Paul, or if he’s been riding your bench for a while, put him back in your starting lineup. He was the fantasy MVP this year before he went down.

Be Cautious Of: Setting your hopes too high for All-Star Weekend. I know I was excited when I saw that the Slam Dunk Contest would have some legitimate stars, and especially pumped up when I saw Steph Curry’s name in the three-point shootout. But high expectations can lead to let-downs, and it’d be better to be pleasantly surprised.

Drop: The Los Angeles Lakers. Any and all of them. Jeff Van Gundy said that the current Laker lineup is one of the worst they’ve ever had, and with Pau Gasol, Nick Young and, especially, Kobe Bryant hurt, he’s not wrong. This team is built to have bad nights right now, and the return of a 40-year-old Steve Nash is not the answer. Bail out, Lakers fantasy owners, time to look elsewhere.

Look Out For: This may sound silly, but I think LeBron James is about to have a historic stretch. At this point, the MVP race seems like Durant’s to lose, and combine all the talk of Slim Reaper with the Heat’s recent struggles (and LeBron’s to some extent), and I think the King is about to go crazy for a few weeks. Like 35-9-9 crazy.

AP Photo

page 16 The Signal February 12, 2014

LESSONS FROM THE $1,000,000 NETFLIX PRIZE The College of New Jersey School of Science Presents

RobeRt M. bell, PhD AT&T Labs

WEdNESday, FEb. 19, 2014 3 – 4 p.m.

Mayo Concert Hall Reception to follow

Dr. Robert M. Bell received a PhD in statistics from Stanford University in 1980.

After spending 18 years at RAND conducting public policy analysis, he joined the Statistics Research Department at AT&T Labs–Research.

Bell’s research interests range from machine learning methods to survey research methods.

In 2006, Netflix offered a $1,000,000 prize in a competition to predict new ratings based on prior ratings. The 33-month competition spurred many advances in the science of recommender systems and machine learning.

Dr. Bell was a member of the winning team.

In this seminar, Dr. Bell offers lessons and raises questions about building massive prediction models, discusses the role of statistics, computer science, and mathematics in such endeavors, and highlights prizes as a way to advance science.

He works jointly with Chris Volinsky and Yehuda Koren, current and former colleagues at AT&T Labs–Research.

Sponsored by the School of Science and the Department of Mathematics & Statistics

February 12, 2014 The Signal page 17 Cheap Seats

Canadians will take Gold in hockey

By Matthew Bowker Staff Writer

Russia to compete for bronze.

Canada: There will be no surprises here — Canada is the favorite to win gold in Sochi.

Team Canada is returning 11 players who captured the gold medal in the 2010 Winter Olympics. Team Canada has perhaps the most talented group of centers ever assembled, and expect it to pay dividends.

With Crosby, Toews, Getzlaf and Bergeron controlling the play, Canada has a perfect combination of offensive ability, defensive responsibility and size, which will make it hard for other teams to match up against.

The big change in Canada’s roster from 2010 is the goaltending. In Vancouver, Canada was able to win despite its shaky goaltending. This year, Montreal Canadians goaltender Carey Price has the ability to anchor this team and lead them to gold.

Sweden: This team has a stacked roster in every facet of the game. Henrik Lundqvist is one of the best goalies in the world and is good enough to carry this team to the gold medal. And although all-star Henrik Sedin will miss the games due to an injury, Sweden still has enough offensive talent to dominate opponents.

Sweden has perhaps the most balanced defense of the tournament led by former Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson and heavy-hitter Nicklas Kronwall. Sweden has a complete roster set to make a deep run in the Olympics.

AP Photos

Crosby and company are favorites to get gold again, while Karlsson can lead a high-powered Sweden to silver, and Quick can help the US place.

Russia: There is no room for error for this year’s Russian team. The home crowd will accept nothing less than gold from their team. Russia also has a star-studded group of forwards, led by Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin and Pavel Datsyuk.

In 2010, Russia failed to medal, mainly because of their aging goaltending. The Russian goalies then had a combined .898

save percentage. This year, though, reigning Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky will compete with Semyon Varlamov, who has been one of the biggest surprises of this NHL season.

While the Russians may have the best goaltending in the tournament, their defense is not nearly good enough to shut down teams like the United States. Expect

United States: Team USA has an interesting roster. General manager David Poile has put together a group of mainly defensive-minded forwards, along with some scorers. On the back end, youth and strong skating dominate this defense corps.

Speedy defensemen will be needed to skate on the Olympic ice, which is 15 feet wider than NHL ice. But the eight U.S. defenseman average just five years of NHL experience and only three have competed in the Olympics before.

The collection of offensive-defensemen along with the number of defensiveforwards is a big risk by Poile. This roster appears good enough to compete for gold, but if things go wrong, could also miss the medal round entirely.

The one thing the Americans can be confident in is their goaltending. Jonathan Quick has been one of the most consistent goalies of the past three seasons and has been nearly unbeatable in the playoffs and big games. Team USA is also returning goalie Ryan Miller, who gave up only 1.35 goals per game in 2010 against the world’s best. Poile has built a roster to directly compete with Canada’s offense in a hopeful gold medal game rematch.

Prediction: The tournament is not all about these three powerhouses — expect a couple of dark horse teams, such as Finland and the Czech Republic, to make runs.

Ultimately, defending champion Canada will prove to be the best team in the world once again, this time with a gold medal win over Sweden, while the U.S. will place by beating Russia for bronze.

Another treacherous week for Lions Men routed by 34 versus NJAC leaders Men’s Basketball

By Mike Herold Fantasy Sports Editor

It was another cold and treacherous week for the men’s basketball team, as the Lions had their first game of the week postponed due to the weather and suffered another setback in the one game they did play.

The College’s (7-14, 5-9) game against Rutgers-Camden University was delayed after the icy conditions this past Wednesday, Feb. 5, made it unsafe for the visiting team to make the trip.

The Lions did manage to make their way to Rutgers-New Brunswick on Saturday, Feb. 8, when they fell 87-53 to the NJAC-leading Scarlet Raiders.

A tough loss continued the Lions’ slide and exemplified their recent struggles in keeping their opponents off the scoreboard.

“We had a tough stretch of games playing all the top teams in our conference over the last two weeks,” head coach Kelly Williams said. “We are still struggling on the defensive side of the ball, which is really making us press offensively. If we can regroup over the next week and find a way to get some easy buckets off turnovers and second chance points, we will regain our

defensive focus and energy.”

There isn’t much to say about a game in which the College never led and shot just 26.7 percent from the field and 57.6 percent from the free throw line. Junior guard Jayson Johnson led the team in scoring with 18 points, the only Lion to reach double digits in any statistical category.

Junior forward Skyelar Ettin and sophomore forward Bobby Brackett were next on the scoring

chart with six points apiece.

“Last night was a tough game for everyone,” forward Joe Kane said. “As a team, we need to make a better effort on the defensive end and focus on winning each possession, one play at a time.”

Perhaps a telling statistic from the game was the College’s lack of assists — the team managed only four dimes while turning the ball over 13 times, which are not the best numbers for a team

built on foundations of communication and ball movement.

Despite the loss, the Lions find themselves only a half game back from making the NJAC playoffs with four to play, with each of those games coming against an NJAC opponent.

“I am excited that we are still in the playoff run and we control our own destiny,” Williams said.

“We have four games left and three are at home. I am hoping

Photo courtesy of the Sports Information Desk

Men’s basketball continues its spring slide in a defeat to Rutgers-New Brunswick.

we can take advantage of playing (at) home and get back to the basics of defending, rebounding and making some shots.”

Those four remaining games will also be against an opponent bested by the College in the first meeting of the season, and three come against teams right above the Lions in the standings.

“These next few games are going to be a testament to all the hard work we put into this season,” Kane said. “It’s make or break time if we want to make a playoff run, and I’m confident we can make it happen.”

The College played their rescheduled game against RutgersCamden University this Monday, Feb. 10, and will take to the Packer Hall court this Wednesday, Feb. 12, at 8 p.m. against Rowan University, with their final away game of the year coming this Saturday, Feb. 16, against New Jersey City University. All these game times are, of course, dependent on the weather.

Perhaps when the snow stops falling, the Lions will rise.

“Yes, we are going through some adversity right now,” Williams said. “But I believe this experience that we have to go through to make us a stronger team this year and in the future.”

page 18 The Signal February 12, 2014

February 12, 2014 The Signal page 19 Track & Field

A lot to love at Valentine Invitational Lions runners qualify for DIII ECAC times

By Peter Fiorilla Sports Editor

In a Valentine Invitational to remember last Saturday, Feb. 12, held at Boston University, the College’s track and field teams earned multiple ECAC qualifiers and represented Division III against athletes from all three NCAA divisions.

Highlighting a solid performance in mid-distance from the men’s team was freshman runner Brandon Mazzarella, who was named NJAC Rookie of the Week for the fourth time this year with a pair of ECAC qualifying times.

Mazzarella won his section in the 800meter with a personal record of 1:54.66 — finishing 51st in a Division I-dominated field of 235 runners — and helped the men’s 4x400 relay earn an ECAC qualifying time of 3:21.60, the best 4x400 time of any NJAC team this season.

The men’s team also had two qualifying

Photo courtesy of the Sports Information Desk

Johnson makes the ECAC cut in the 800-meter event.

times at the 400-meter, as sophomore runner Laron Day ran it in 50.39 seconds and senior runner T.J. Kelly wasn’t far behind at 50.46 seconds.

The men also excelled in the shortest two events, as two athletes had ECAC

qualifying times at 200-meter — Zach Hubner reached the finish line in 22.62 seconds and senior Michael Spekhardt ended up at 22.73 seconds — while sophomore runner Jake Lindacher made his way to an 8.54 second finish in the 60-meter event.

In long distance, senior James Seyffart ran the mile in 4:17.28, while senior jumper Scott Lisa had a top-10 finish with a high jump of 1.95 meters.

The women’s team had its fair share of ECAC qualifying marks as well, especially in long distance, with junior runner Tara Nealon leading the way by winning her 3,000-meter section — and being a leader among Division III athletes — with a time of 10:09.07.

The College also had two ECAC times in the mile, as senior Anginelle Alabanza paced the Lions with a time of 5:10.45 and junior Megan Stack posted a mark of 5:13.47.

In the 800-meter, junior runner Katelyn Ary put in a top Division III time at 2:15.59, and junior runner Liz Johnson finished behind at 2:19.77.

Next up for the Lions is an appearance at the Rider/Lafayette Winter Games held in New York this Friday, Feb. 14.

Women’s Basketball

Hoops / Women conquer Rutgers-Newark continued from page 24

Photo courtesy of the Sports Information Desk

The Lions stay on pace to be second in the NJAC come playoff time.

and acknowledging that she doesn’t expect West to make every shot from here on out — though Henderson certainly would welcome it.

Among other notable contributors, forward Jessica Goldbach played a solid game, posting seven points and six rebounds, while hosting a block party with her four rejections. Goldbach was forced to miss some time earlier in the season with a concussion, but she has bounced back well.

“Jess was great for us, and she’s worked really hard to get back in the swing of things,” Henderson said.

Having won four games in a row and

with less than a handful of games remaining, it appears the Lions might be hitting their stride at the perfect time: heading into the playoffs.

“This is a big week for us,” Roddy said.

“If we’re able to get three wins going into our season finale versus Montclair State, we’ll have all the momentum.”

Currently in second place in the NJAC and right behind Montclair State, the College can clinch a top-two seed and a firstround bye in the conference tournament if they manage to knock off Rutgers-Camden University, Rowan University and New Jersey City University this week.

The Lions are back in action in Packer Hall on Wednesday, Feb. 12, at 6 p.m. as they take on Rowan.

Lions tripped up in regular-season finale Seniors play last home games with College Ice Hockey

By Julie Kayzerman News Editor

It was a physically tough weekend of game play for the Lions ice hockey team on their home ice, but perhaps even more so, it was emotionally difficult — and the emotions won’t stop there.

Despite losing two competitive games by the close scores of 4-3 against both Millersville University and Princeton University in the same week, the Lions know they must look forward onto what really matters now: the playoffs.

However, before getting into the playoff mindset, it was an emotional experience on their home ice at the Loucks Ice Center this past weekend. The Lions celebrated senior night, marking the last home games of the senior players’ college hockey careers.

“Playing my last home game feels like a chapter closing in

Julie Kayzerman / News Editor

The Lions drop their final two regular-season games to Millersville and Princeton.

my life,” senior forward John Czarnik said. “A lot of time has been spent at our home rink over the years and knowing it’s the last game ever wearing TCNJ colors is tough to accept.”

As several of the seniors have been playing together under the tutelage of head coach Joseph Cucci, they’ve certainly adopted a clear team chemistry on and off the ice throughout the years.

Winning the championship in 2012, the upperclassmen are hoping to repeat it for their last year. But regardless of the outcome of next week’s playoffs, the seniors have certainly set an influential tone on the ice from the strategic game play of forward Anthony Santisi, to the leadership of defenseman Scott Rothlisberger, to the determination of seniors forward Kush

Patel and former line-mate forward Nick Lisciandro alongside the aggressive playing of forward Jed Plester, forward Zach Zuczek and Czarnik.

Regardless of stats, though, these seven players certainly left their hearts on their home ice at the Loucks Center and their legacy will live on through the underclassmen as they follow in the seniors’ footsteps.

“It’s a crazy feeling, knowing that you have one week of hockey left,” Czarnik said. “It’s going to be emotional, considering the fact that it’s all over after this, but there’s no better way to end your career than going out as a champion.”

And go out as champions is exactly what the Lions plan to do next week during the upcoming playoffs.

“To be successful in the playoffs, we have to play at a higher level and intensity and we know we are capable of it,” Czarnik said. “We have to play very strong defensively as a unit, which was the main reason we won the championship two years ago. Everyone knows their role on the team, and if we execute the way we know how, we will be very successful in the playoffs.”

The Lions will take on their first playoff game next weekend at Grundy Arena on Friday, Feb. 14.

page 20 The Signal February 12, 2014

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February 12, 2014 The Signal page 21

LIONS

AROUND THE

DORM 5 3

Gabe Allen “The Ref”

Mike Herold

Fantasy Sports Editor

Peter Fiorilla Sports Editor

Chris Molicki

Managing Editor

In this week’s Around the Dorm, the “Ref,” Gabe Allen, asks our expert panel three questions: who should replace the injured Kobe Bryant in the All-Star game, will the Denver Broncos fall victim to the “Loser’s Curse” next year and fail to win the Super Bowl again, and who was the biggest snub in the NBA’s Eastern Conference All-Star voting?

1. With Kobe Bryant out for the All-Star game, if you’re the NBA commissioner, who are you choosing to replace him?

Mike: The new comissioner has already made this decision, and I’m going to answer in support of his decision — Anthony Davis was the only correct answer to this question. The Brow has been a stud all season, putting up averages of 20.7 points, 10.4 rebounds and a league-leading 3.2 blocks per game. I thought he should have been on the team to begin with, especially with Dirk Nowitzki — 21.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 0.6 blocks per game — making the squad. Sure, the Mavs are seven games up on the Pelicans, but Dirk has a stronger supporting cast that hasn’t been as hurt by injuries as Davis’s crew was in New Orleans — and if a better record makes an All-Star, then why isn’t Goran Dragic on the team? Simply put, Anthony Davis was the biggest snub this season, and new commissioner Adam Silver selecting Davis was just righting a wrong done by the coaches who didn’t pick

AP Photo

him in the first place.

Peter. This question won’t generate much discussion. You could make half-hearted arguments for Suns guard Goran Dragic, Kings center DeMarcus Cousins or Grizzlies guard

Mike Conley as all being worthy of replacing Kobe, but in the end, Anthony Davis is having far too good a year to pick anyone else for that final Western Conference All-Star spot. Davis is playing heavy minutes for an injured New

Orleans team, which needs all the help it can get, and it shows: Davis is a top-five player in the NBA in PER and has an astonishing 10.9 EWA — estimated wins added — through just 50 games, for a team with 22 wins. He might not play for a good team, but Davis is the best player not already picked.

Chris: Anthony Davis was already selected to replace Kobe in the All-Star game, and that was the right decision. Davis is having the breakout year we all expected, averaging over 20 points and 10 rebounds a game, along with more than three blocks per contest. Those stats speak as to how he’s developed into a dominant rim protector and versatile scorer. Davis has a PER of 26.64, and he’s putting up these numbers on a below-average Pelicans team, which isn’t easy.

A case can be made for Goran Dragic, but Davis is ahead of him in all of those categories, as well as most other categories. Plus, Dragic has a more competent cast around him. This is the first of many All-Star selections for Davis.

Mike wins for saying that Davis should have already made the team, Chris gets 2 points for summarizing Davis’s breakout season, and Peter gets 1 point for sleeping on Dragic.

AP Photo

2. After getting dominated in the Super Bowl, will the Broncos fall victim to the “Loser’s Curse” next season, or will they be back with a vengeance?

Mike: While I certainly don’t think that the Broncos will fall victim to the “Loser’s Curse,” I’m not too sure about the whole vengeance thing. I mean, yeah, it was fun to suggest that Peyton Manning was Evil Manning (Darth

Touchdown) this season, but he doesn’t really strike me as a guy to be inspired by revenge.

And on a serious note, I think the Broncos will still be a playoff team next season, but whether they win their division with the Chiefs (and, to a lesser extent, the Chargers), looming large will depend on how many of their key free agents return to the fold. The Broncos have nine of their starters from this season on the

market, including highly valuable players in Eric Decker, Knowshon Moreno and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. If the teams fails to bring those guys back, it will certainly have a tougher time putting together a dominant season — and, of course, if Manning starts to lose his touch or gets injured, they could easily fall right out of playoff contention. So I guess to answer the question, I’d have to fall on the side of vengeance, although I really think it’s more of a “they’ll still be a playoff football team.”

Peter: The Broncos will not be back in the Super Bowl next season — and might not even be in the playoffs — as an impossibly difficult schedule and free agency casualties will bring Denver down. When Peyton Manning torched defenses for a record-setting amount of points last year, he was taking advantage of the fourthweakest schedule in the NFL. In 2014, the Broncos will have their hands full. They play in an improving and tough AFC West — including two younger playoff teams in the Chiefs and Chargers — in addition to going up against the hyper-competitive NFC West, the other first-place teams in the conference and the AFC

East. That schedule only includes two teams below .500: the Raiders and Bills. As the Broncos will likely lose so many of the complementary players who helped them go 13-3 last year — including star wide receiver Eric Decker, starting running back Knowshown Moreno, starting guard Zane Beadles and various players in the secondary and on defense — Denver has little room for error, and I think the team’s reign of terror in the AFC West is over. Either the versatile Chiefs or the Phillip Rivers-led Chargers will take command of that division, and, at best, expect Denver to lose in a wild card game.

Chris: I’m not sure how deadly the “Loser’s Curse” is. I think if a team gets so close to glory and barely misses it, they would be even more motivated to do well. However, I do think the Broncos will struggle next year, but for different reasons. Denver didn’t face a ton of tough defenses until the Super Bowl, which may have caused us to overrate their offense. Factor in Peyton Manning being a year older, and it will be that much tougher.

The Broncos are a good team, I just don’t think they’re that much better than the field.

Peter wins for his authoritative overview, Chris gets 2 points for saying the Broncos will struggle, and Mike gets 1 point for highlighting the importance of free agency.

3. Joe Johnson was somehow chosen to seed, and Jefferson is the biggest reason why. appear in his seventh All-Star game by Peter: He’s the popular answer to this question, the coaches. Which Eastern Conference but also the right one: Lance Stephenson should player was the biggest snub? be an NBA All-Star over Johnson for being a Mike: At first glance, Johnson’s selection top-five defender in the East, while scoring efseems like a tragedy, given how average he’s ficiently — 14.2 points per game on 50 percent been this season. Take a closer look, though, shooting, along with 5.3 assists per game — in and it’s not as bad as it initially appears. There a system that’s about as fast and fan as watching are only two or three players I’d put above paint dry. Don’t over-complicate it — Stephenhim in the East. I’ll start by saying Lance Ste- son is an integral part of the NBA’s best team phenson is the popular choice, since being the and one of the league’s most statistically signifileague’s triple double leader usually means cant turnarounds in recent memory, as Indiana something, and since he’s been the third-most is winning at a 78 percent clip compared to 60.5 important player on the league’s best team. percent last year. Stephenson scores efficiently, I’d also put Kyle Lowry ahead of Johnson, gets rebounds and assists and plays fantastic degiven his impressive stats on the conference’s fense. You can’t ask for much more. third-best team. But I’m giving the biggest Chris: Joe Johnson is having a decent year, snub award to Al Jefferson, the big man who’s but it hasn’t been All-Star-caliber. Instead, Oraveraging 20 points and 10.6 boards for the lando’s Aaron Afflalo should have gotten the Bobcats. Any player putting up 20 and 10 a nod. Afflalo is having a career year, averaging night deserves serious All-Star consideration, almost 20 points per game, while grabbing but Big Al has done something even more im- about four boards and dishing out about four pressive — he’s made Charlotte a legitimate assists. And like Anthony Davis, he’s putting team rather than a total laughing stock. Grant- up these numbers on a bad team. Johnson is ed, they won’t strike fear into the hearts of any worse than Afflalo in nearly every major catedecent team anytime soon, but if the playoffs gory, including shooting percentage. Give the started today, the Bobcats would be the No. 8 guy on the tanking Magic a shot.

Peter wins for his case for Stephenson, Mike gets 2 points for pointing out Jefferson’s 20-10 average, and Chris gets 1 point for saying Afflalo is having a career year in Orlando.

Peter wins Around the Dorm, 7-6-5

AP Photo

page 22 The Signal February 12, 2014

Smart on the wrong end of television vitriol Young player’s actions are understandable Cheap Seats

By Mike Herold Fantasy Sports Editor

Unless you haven’t turned on some kind of sports network in the past few days or looked at the Internet in general, you’ve probably heard this story already. In a game between the men’s basketball teams of Oklahoma State and Texas Tech, Oklahoma State’s Marcus Smart — a presumptive first-round NBA draft pick this year — got into an altercation with a Texas Tech fan near the end of the game that ended with Smart pushing the fan.

Before I get into the meat of this article, I want to make one thing perfectly clear: Yes, what Smart did was wrong.

Escalating the situation to physical contact is not something that is acceptable for an athlete to do, or for a regular person to do for that matter. I do not disagree with taking Smart out of the game, or with the technical foul he was issued — what I do disagree with is all the fallout that’s come from this incident.

I also don’t think Marcus Smart was the bad guy in all of this, contary to popular opinion.

Let me tell you a few things about Marcus Smart. He’s one of four brothers, one of whom died, and he grew up in Texas. He was a McDonald’s All-American in high school and was projected to be a top draft pick in last year’s NBA draft before he decided to stay in school another year. He represented the United States last year in the FIBA World U19 Championship. Yes, that means what you think it means: Marcus Smart is 19 years old.

I won’t tell you anything about the fan Smart pushed because I don’t believe he should become famous because of this.

Let me just tell you all you need to know. He is a grown man who is a fan of Texas Tech. He is known for being in another video, which you can find by searching YouTube for “Aggie Basketball - Bryan Davis Dunk and Tech Fan,” in which this same fan made aggressive gestures and faces at another young player from Texas A&M. The link to this video was posted on ESPN’s story about Smart, but has since been removed. I guess it didn’t fit the narrative to blame this whole thing on Smart.

So here’s what happened in

Smart is held back after pushing a confrontational fan. this incident that has everyone coming down so hard on Smart: At the end of a tough game, with his team down by two, Smart dove to stop a fast break by the other team, which resulted in him landing in the stands behind the basket. This fan, a grown man, said something offensive — some have said it was a racial slur, others have suggested it was a comment about Smart’s mother — to Smart, a 19-year-old kid. Smart turned

to confront this fan, who continued yelling at Smart. Smart then pushed the fan before walking off angrily, telling his teammates what had happened.

And, of course, Smart is now the worst athlete to ever live, if you listen to what the talking heads have to say.

Let me ask you: If you were presented with that same set of circumstances, would you be able to hold back? I’m not so sure I would, and I consider

AP Photo

myself to be something of an extreme pacifist. But there are some lines that just shouldn’t be crossed, and by the sound of it, that fan definitely crossed one of those lines with Smart. Smart is still just a young student and not a professional athlete by anyone’s standard.

A grown man belittled a kid, the kid pushed back, and now that kid is a terrible human being.

If you ask me, that’s the wrong narrative to write.

Wrestling on path to being self-financed Lions Endowment Committee raises $60,000 Wrestling

By Ashley McKenna Correspodnent

At most public collegiate institutions, including the College, the school funds the athletic programs from students’ tuition as well as from taxpayers. In an era of rising tuition costs and economic uncertainty, many athletic programs are reaching out for support elsewhere. Lions wrestling is one of those programs that is committed to outside funding, and they have a plan.

On Friday, Feb. 7, wrestling alumni made a ceremonial introduction appearance in the No. 25 wrestling squad’s upset attempt against No. 9 Wilkes University and announced its hopes of raising $3 million dollars by 2024, spearheaded by the TCNJ Wrestling Endowment Committee.

Established in 2013, the College created the committee with the goal of raising enough money for the wrestling program to be independently funded. In other words, wrestling would not have to be completely dependent on funding by the school. This would essentially allow the program to purchase new equipment, travel to Minnesota and Iowa to wrestle better teams, and continue its quest for national titles.

The College’s four-time All-American wrestler and honorary captain Mike Jacoutot explained that since the 2008 recession, the Endowment Committee has taken it upon itself to self-fund the

Photo courtesy of the Sports Information Desk

Wrestling raises $60,000 in its Alumni Event last Friday, Feb. 7.

program to give back to the school.

With a crowd of over 700 attendees (exceeding the 688-person capacity of Packer Hall), fans showed their respect for the 22 alumni represented from six different decades. Fans also listened to

Jacoutot’s speech about the involvement of putting TCNJ wrestling back on the banner.

“In order to raise money, we need the support of students, parents, fans and alumni,” the honorary captain of

Friday’s match said.

Jacoutot led Trenton State College to a pair of national championships. He concluded his senior season by winning the 1981 NCAA Division III Championship after three consecutive runnerup finishes. Jacoutot was inducted into TCNJ’s Alumni/Athletic Hall of Fame this past fall.

In November, Tim Jacoutot — Mike Jacoutot’s brother — was appointed president of the TCNJ Wrestling Endowment Committee. The wrestling program needs the funding, Tim Jacoutot explained as he pulled out his strategic plan packet that lays the foundation of getting the program back to the glory days over the next 10 years.

“Raising $3 million is a lofty goal, but you have to reach for the stars sometimes,” said Tim Jacoutot, a TCNJ former three-time NCAA Division III Champion, two-time Outstanding Wrestler and four-time All-American.

With the wrestling team being the flagship program of being self-funded at the College, Friday’s match alone brought in over $60,000, a number that demonstrates that the committee is well on its way of self-fulfilling its plan. Both Jacoutot brothers hope their plan will help other collegiate programs self-fund as well.

“Our alumni are all proud to be a part of this college and this program,” Jim Jacoutot said. “Now that we are in our 40s and doing well, it’s time to give back.”

February 12, 2014 The Signal page 23

ports Week In Review AP Photo

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Did You Know?

The origin of the College’s mascot, Roscoe the Lion, began in 1929 at a basketball game.

Trailing at halftime, Coach Earl Dean told his team to “get out there, act like a lion and win the game.” The College ended up coming back and the legend of Roscoe the Lion was born.

Number of wins per season Softball

Follow @TCNJSignal on Twitter to get all the latest updates and more!

2009

Team total: 204 Alex Spark 53

2010

Jillian Nealon 35

2011

Jen Garavente 34

2012

Lauren Pigott 23 Erin Waller 20

2013

Photo courtesy of the Sports Information Desk

ST U D E N T AT H L E TE O F

THE WEEK Women’s Basketball

Led team in scoring against Rutgers-Newark

Senior guard Kelly Roddy had a career day, posting 20 points and adding seven rebounds against Rutgers-Newark University. Her efforts led to a 70-48 victory over the Scarlet Raiders, improving the women’s win streak to four.

This week’s picks from the staff (NBA) Pacers vs. (NBA) Heat vs.

Mavericks

Warriors

(NCAAM) Pitt

vs. Syracuse

Peter Fiorilla 2

25

30

35

The Horizon For

Sports

(NCAAM) OU

vs. OSU

Men’s Basketball February 12 vs. Rowan University, 8 p.m.

February 15 @ New Jersey City University, 7 p.m.

Women’s Basketball February 12 vs. Rowan University, 6 p.m.

February 15 @ New Jersey City University, 5 p.m.

Wrestling February 14 vs. Delaware Valley College, 7:30 p.m.

February 15 @ Messiah College, 12 p.m.

Andrew Grossman 2 Mike Herold 2 Amy Reynolds 1

Swimming & Diving February 14-16 Metropolitan Conference Championships

Chris Molicki 1 Julie Kayzerman 1

?

Signal Trivia

?

20

Track & Field February 14 Rider/Lafayette Winter Games

Kelly Roddy

Point leaders

0

Kendal Borup 11 5 10 15 9 Lauren Karpovich

What baseball team was the first to put a roof over its stadium?

AP Photo

Last week’s Signal Trivia Answer:

In 1919, pitcher Ray Caldwell was struck by lightning in the middle of the ninth inning against the Philadelphia Athletics. Despite getting hurt, Caldwell never left the mound and ended up throwing a complete game.

Signal

Sports

Capacity crowd can’t will Lions to win

700 watch wrestling’s dramatic upset attempt

By Andrew Grossman Production Manager

It was Alumni Night for the wrestling squad, and to prepare for the highly anticipated match against No. 9 Wilkes University, the College pledged to crowd Packer Hall with hundreds of people. They did not disappoint, as over 700 fans came wearing their blue and gold colors.

“There was a lot of hype going in because we were trying to pack the gym with alumni and (other fans),” senior 184-pounder Brian Broderick said. “We knew Wilkes was a tough team, and in order to beat them, we were going to have to have a full 10-guy effort.”

While the Lions competed hard, the men fell short 19-13 after a tough battle against the Colonels.

“Going into it, we were prepared — our team was in good shape, but (Wilkes) just did a good job controlling the tempo and slowing us down, so credit to them,” Broderick said. “Wilkes is a good team, so it’s not like we lost to an un-ranked team or a team that no one has heard of before.”

The Colonels started the night off strong and built up a 13-4 lead with five more matches to go. Fortunately, the Lions were not deterred, as sophomore

Photo courtesy of the Sports Information Desk

Wrestling rallies back from a 13-4 deficit but falls short.

Antonio Mancella gave the men some momentum after an impressive 9-4 victory at 165 pounds.

The two senior All-Americans, Broderick and 174-pounder Zach Zotollo, followed afterward. Both were clutch, as they leveled the score at 13-13 with two matches to go.

“I would have liked to score more

points than I did — I ended up with a three-point decision, but that’s all I was able to get at the time,” Broderick said.

“I just go out there with the same mind set every match and (I hope) my individual score will contribute to the overall team score.”

Broderick did just that, but it was not enough, unfortunately, as the Lions fell

in the final two matches.

“It’s tough being the heavyweight when the matches are close and the final match comes down to the final performance,” Broderick said. “It’s tough to be in that situation.”

While the Lions didn’t get the outcome they had wanted, there is now time to regroup and focus on the final two matches of the season.

“I know both are tough opponents and I am pretty sure they are both ranked, but it doesn’t really matter much, though, because we need to have another 10-guy effort at home,” Broderick said. “We just need to take one match at a time and even though they’re back-to-back, we just have to focus on Delaware Valley for now.”

Broderick is looking to set a milestone against Delaware Valley this week by joining the 100-win club.

“I am just going to go out there like it is any other match, and I am sure I will forget all about that 100-win hype once I step on the mat,” Broderick said.

When asked about achieving this milestone, the senior answered, “It is really not where you start, but where you finish. I would rather have a better finish at nationals than have 100 wins, but if they both happen then that would be even better.”

Lions take care of business in the NJAC Women win only game in ‘weird week’

By Gabe Allen Staff Writer

In what was supposed to be a busy three-game week, the women’s basketball team took care of business when Mother Nature finally permitted the players to lace them up, routing Rutgers-Newark University 7048 and improving to 15-6.

“It was a weird week,” Lions head coach Dawn Henderson said. “With school being closed twice, we only had about three hours of practice this last week, and we started out a little slow on Saturday.”

When school was closed on their second gameday in a row last Wednesday, Feb. 5, the players used their snow day wisely, getting in a couple solid hours of full-court pickup hoops at Packer Hall.

Apart from the team’s usual motto of working to get a little better every day, senior guard

Lions’ Lineup February 12, 2014

I n s i d e

Photo courtesy of the Sports Information Desk

Roddy ties a career-high in points to help the Lions defeat Rutgers-Newark, 70-48.

Kelly Roddy said the team is also specifically looking to get off to better starts and not dig themselves holes early into these games.

The College trailed RutgersNewark 23-15 with less than eight minutes remaining in the first half, but from then on, it was all Lions.

They closed the half with a 21-2 spurt and held the Scarlet Raiders scoreless over the final six minutes and change.

“The first five minutes was

Hockey tripped up in finale page 19

Basketball shoots an air ball page 17

like a warm-up,” Roddy said.

“When we decided to change up our defense and go manto-man, our defensive energy started leading our offensive attack, and that’s really why we were able to pull away.”

Roddy tied her career-high with 20 points and added seven rebounds and four assists in just 24 minutes of play.

Senior guard Tiffany DeTulio and senior guard Liz West also turned in stellar performances.

DeTulio contributed 16 points, four assists and three rebounds, while West went a perfect 5-5 from the field to go along with five rebounds and two steals.

“Roddy and Tiff were huge — they were scoring in so many different ways, hitting from deep, mid-range and inside. And these are the games I’ve come to expect from Liz,” Henderson said before laughing see BASKETBALL page 19

46 53 Around the Dorm page 21

Wrestling financing itself page 22