The Signal: Spring '16 No. 14

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Vol. XLIV, No. 14

May 4, 2016

Serving The College of New Jersey community since 1885

Student evaluations examined Open fora talks

possible $300K cut in SAF funds

By Jessica Ganga Sports Editor

their department chair, whereas tenured professors are reviewed every five years, Bates said.

The student evaluations are also a crucial part of the promotion process for pre-tenure professors, College Promotions Committee (CPC) Chair and the Library’s Head of Cataloguing Cathy Weng said.

For promotions, first the Department Promotion and

Vice President of Student Affairs Amy Hecht hosted a series of open fora on Tuesday, April 26, and Thursday, April 28, to discuss four positions — three new and one current — whose salaries would be funded through the Student Activities Fee (SAF).

Hecht plans to use $300,000 of the SAF for the full-time positions, which will include a business operations manager to work alongside the Student Finance Board (SFB), a diversity and inclusion counselor, a club sports and intramural Director and will have the College Union Board (CUB) adviser be paid from the SAF. However, Hecht said that she would be willing to pull back on the CUB adviser position.

“I am presenting (for these positions) because I think this is a cumulation of what I’ve heard from students — what students need,” Hecht said. “I do not think I have it perfect. I do not think it’s exactly what we need to do and that’s why I need your need to do and that’s why I need your feedback and your thoughts, so I welcome them in a respectful (way).”

see STUDENT page 8

see SAF page 3

Kim Iannarone / Photo Editor

The Office of Records and Registration affords students the opportunity to evaluate their professors.

By Chelsea LoCascio News Editor

Each semester, students are asked to fill out an Online Student Feedback on Teaching evaluation for every course they take. This semester is no different, as some of the undergraduate students at the College can complete them at anytime from Monday, April 25, to Friday, May 6, in PAWS, according to the Office of Records

and Registration’s Website.

However, there is a miscommunication between the professors and students, with the latter generally believing their responses have no impact on their professors’ careers.

“Some people think that they don’t (affect the professors) because I feel like most people don’t really want to (fill them out) and just think it’s a waste of time,” junior psychology major Christine Dunne said.

Sociology professor Diane Bates said that the evaluations have more of an effect on untenured professors. Department chairs review and renew adjunct professors’ contracts every semester, which includes looking at their student evaluations, according to Bates. “(This is) so that if they see something, they can act very quickly,” Bates said.

Likewise, pre-tenured faculty are under annual scrutiny from

Laughton reflects Club recognition process explored on career as dean

By Brian Guevara Correspondent John Laughton, who was hired as the dean of the School of Arts and Communication in 2009, will be retiring this December, capping an incredible run as dean. The School of Arts and Communication has shared major success under the guidance of Laughton. He has been a strong supporter of the combination of liberal arts and communication studies at the College, and has been a massive figure for the arts locally, nationally and internationally.

It was Laughton’s idea to combine arts and communication under one school, as he saw the similarities between two subjects.

“I think it’s a good match,” Laughton said in an interview with TCNJ Magazine in August 2009.

“Considering… the way the arts play into the 21st century model of making contact with one another and with influencing and impacting ideas… The merging of those disciplines (like art, music and communications) was forward-looking on the part see DEAN page 8

INDEX:

Nation & World / Page 9

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Kim Iannarone / Photo Editor

SG requires clubs to gain recognition before earning privileges.

By Connor Smith Social Media Editor

The process of getting an organization recognized by Student Government (SG) is meant to be simple. If you’re passionate about something that isn’t represented by one of the 200 or

Editorial / Page 10

Opinions / Page 11

more clubs at the College, then it’s up to you to make your dream organization a reality — a pitch that ambassadors love to share with prospective students, according to ambassador and freshman nursing major Daniel Suarez.

TCNJ Ski and Snowboard Club President and freshman biomedical

Features / Page 15

engineering major Kyle Skelly had that same goal when he discovered the College was lacking a club for winter alpine sports. “(Ambassadors) were telling us how easy it was to make a club,” Skelly said. “I couldn’t picture myself going to a college and going through a winter session without the ability to ski, snowboard and do the thing that takes a lot of stress away. I figured I might as well take a shot at making my own.”

SG recently awarded recognition to two organizations — Skelly’s TCNJ Ski and Snowboard club and the TCNJ Political Union — during its Wednesday, April 20, general body meeting.

For TCNJ Political Union, the board’s decision was the end of a satisfying process that helped the club grow its purpose and ideals. However, for TCNJ Ski and Snowboard Club, recognition was the last stop at the end of a year-long marathon for acceptance.

“We strive to get people to the last step of the process within three weeks,” SG see CLUBS page 6

Arts & Entertainment / Page 19

Sports / Page 28

Textbook App Student-duo working on book-selling app

Concert Band Musicians tell stories through music

Softball Lions sweep two doubleheaders

See Features page 15

See A&E page 21

See Sports page 28

page 2 The Signal May 4, 2016

Board of Trustees talks possible tuition tactics

By Tom Ballard Opinions Editor The College’s Board of Trustees met on Tuesday, April 26, to discuss a wide range of issues affecting the College, especially the topic of next year’s tuition.

“There will probably not be a recommendation coming from me to the board that there’ll be no tuition increase,” College President R. Barbara Gitenstein said.

Gitenstein, along with College Treasurer Lloyd Ricketts, gave a presentation the board that delved into the College’s planned budget and possible tuition increases. The College cannot finalize its budget until after Gov. Chris Christie and the state legislature work out the state’s budget — which includes funding for the state’s higher education institutions — by Friday, July 1.

While the budget has not yet been passed, Gitenstein said that Christie’s proposed budget serves as a good indicator of what the state will be willing to give to higher education.

According to the presentation, Christie’s budget calls for allocating $2.2 billion for all higher education costs, including $27.18 million for the College. Last year, the state cut the College’s funding by $2.1 million from the $29.3 million, or 18.1 percent of the College’s budget, that the state gave the College for four straight years, from 2012 to 2015.

The presentation also noted that tuition brought in by the College between 2012 and 2016 has increased from $104.693 million to $122.713 million, but has dropped slightly in the percent of the budget that it covers, from 64.7 percent to 64.5 percent. In those same four years, the College has also received an increase in gifts and other contributions, which totalled $2.668 million, or 1.6 percent of the budget, in 2012, compared to $7.732 million, or 4.1 percent of the budget, in 2016.

Gitenstein said that an increase in tuition might be necessary in order to fill a number of new positions, many of which the

College is required to create in order to abide by new federal and state regulations.

“One of the things that is particularly frustrating... (about being an) administrator of a public institution is that the less money that you are allocated by the state or federal government, the more requirements they put on you,” Gitenstein said. “Those requirements can become very onerous.

At some point, you simply have to hire someone else to do it because there (are) only 24 hours in a day.”

Gitenstein pointed out that the new positions will include an additional Title IX coordinator and more athletic and counseling personnel.

In addition to paying for the salaries of new employees, the College is also required to pay for many employees’ fringe benefits — non-salary benefits, such as healthcare, pension plans and paid vacations. While 859 employees are covered by the state, according to the presentation, the College has to pay for any extra employees.

“That number of 859 (employees) has not changed in about 20 years,” Gitenstein said. “So despite growth or our changes in programs or our addition responsibilities, any position above that 859, the College itself is paying. One other thing that you would notice is that over time, the percentage of appropriation is becoming less than the percentage of the fringe cost and that’s happening to most of our sister schools.”

Trustee and Secretary of the board Robert A. Altman said that it is “unacceptable” for the state to not change the number of employees that it covers for the College.

In the presentation, Ricketts proposed three different scenarios for the College’s budget — one based on the price of tuition remaining the same, one based on a 2 percent increase in the tuition price and one based on a 2.5 percent increase. According to Ricketts, if the board decides not to increase tuition, the College will place itself into a $4 million deficit for the next fiscal year. If tuition is increased by 2 percent, the College will still be

in a $2 million deficit and if it is increased by 2.5 percent, the College would be facing a deficit of roughly $1 million.

“I think we’re going (to raise tuition by) 3 percent. I don’t see how you’re going to miss a million dollars and find it on the floor, so it strikes me that another 3 (percent tuition increase) is on the horizon,” Trustee and Chair of the state’s College Affordability Study Commission Frederick Keating (’70) said. The alumnus noted that last year, the board hiked tuition by 3 percent in order to cover the cut in state funding.

According to the presentation, for every 1 percent increase in student charges, tuition will increase $154 for in-state students, $264 for out-of-state students and $126 for room-and-board.

According to Gitenstein, the 3 percent increase in tuition for the current fiscal year has not affected enrollment or interest in the College, noting that the number of deposits for students to reserve a spot at the College is the same now as it was this time last year.

Ricketts said that the College is working hard to develop a plan that best benefits the College and its students, but did note that there are obstacles that makes it difficult.

“Our key priorities are access and affordability in terms of making sure that students can attend the College (and receive a) high quality education at a reasonable price,” Ricketts said. “We are working within constraints of economic and political realities.”

He also said that while the College has no new construction projects planned to begin in the next fiscal year, once the new STEM building and renovated Brower Student Center open, the College will have to pay more for the maintenance of those buildings.

“We’re mindful that the challenges for 2018 and 2019 will be greater than 2017,” Ricketts said.

“Under (Gitenstein’s) leadership, we have started to develop a multi-year budget plan.”

According to Gitenstein, the Tuition Aid Grant (TAG) program

Kim Iannarone / Photo Editor

The Board of Trustees examines possible budget solutions.

— a state program that awards financial grants to students based on economic needs — should see an increase of about 2 percent, or $17.8 million, for next year. However, Gitenstein warns that the 2 percent increase does not mean that students currently receiving TAG funding will receive 2 percent more funding.

The Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) — a state program that provides financial aid to students with “educationally and economically disadvantaged background(s),” according to the Office of the State’s Secretary of Higher Education — would be cut in Christie’s budget by $2.565 million, or 6.2 percent of the entire program.

However, Gitenstein said that the legislature would most likely restore some of that funding back in the final budget given the state’s strong support for the program.

“It just seems to me that the demand (for EOF) is increasing and not decreasing,” Trustee Eleanor V. Horne said, blasting the proposed cuts.

New Jersey’s 19 community colleges will continue to receive level funding at about $134 million a year under Christie’s budget.

The New Jersey Student Tuition Assistant Reward Scholarship (NJ STARS) program — a state scholarship program that aids students in the top 15 percent of their

graduating high school classes in attending community college and four-year institutions, according to the program’s Website — will also continue to receive level funding at $6.907 million.

“Personally, professionally, as a grandparent looking into what’s coming (for my family), I don’t like it, but I think that it’s all thought out (by the College compared to) what I’m hearing from other places,” Keating said.

In addition to the budget and tuition proposals, the board also unanimously approved of the College’s five-year strategic plan that is entitled “TCNJ 2021: Bolder, Better, Brighter.”

The plan will attempt to attract and retain talented students and staff, enhance signature experiences, improve the technological infrastructure and promote collaboration for cost-saving and revenuegenerating measures at the College.

Members of the board were pleased with the presentation and the items addressed at the meeting.

“It’s just important for us to maintain support and strength on our campus and I would like to commend everyone that participated in the development of the budget,” Trustee Rosie Hymerling said. “It’s a fair budget. It’s a good tuition.”

The board will meet next on Tuesday, July 5, in order to set the tuition level for the College’s next fiscal year.

Gospel United Ministries hosts energizing concert

Singers perform a faithful show in the Spiritual Center.

By David O’Keefe Correspondent

From the foyer to the chapel, rich soaring vocals, humming bass lines and thumping drums filled the College’s Spiritual

David Colby / Photo Assistant

Center on the evening of Friday, April 29.

Gospel United Ministries hosted its 2016 Gospel Extravaganza, blending messages of Christian faith with the energy of a rock concert. Featured non-student performers included Ahmad Sanon, Will Morris, Alissia

Neal and Fresh Fire. Many of the performers were also College alumni.

The congregation was nearly as loud as the performers as they offered a choir of voices singing along with the songs.

Freshman biology major Alexa Sanchez said that gospel wasn’t her preferred genre of music and that she had originally attended to offer moral support for a few of her friends who were performing that night.

However, when she attended a rehearsal, she said, “It really spoke to me.”

The music resonated not only with Sanchez, but with the majority of the crowd who remained on their feet with hands held high in the air as the show continued deep into the night.

The Gospel Extravaganza began with an impassioned prayer. The solemn contrition that typifies a sermon or prayer was instead replaced with an energetic atmosphere that was displayed by the crowd. During breaks in between the musical acts, participants stood up to greet and hug their neighbors or

to pass around a wicker collection basket in which people placed money. The environment was one of jovial celebration.

Faculty adviser Benjamin Akuma, when not performing with his band, Fresh Fire, walked around the chapel inviting people to raise their hands and feel the energy of the performances.

For others, the night was also extremely personal. Alumna Alissia Neal (’06) began her performance by speaking about her struggles while in school.

“It was a place of great darkness for me,” she said.

Neal said that she struggled with selfworth and academic pressure. According to Neal, she was able to eventually navigate those turbulent waters by leaning on the strength of her faith.

The night ended with a joint performance with all the College alumni who had performed earlier in the night. The energy was as palpable at the end of the three-hour show as when it began.

May 4, 2016 The Signal page 3

SAF / Student Affairs plans to use fee for staff salaries

SFB is responsible for allocating most of the SAF. continued from page 1 Hecht was met with plenty of student feedback regarding her plan to fund these positions using the SAF, a fee “collected by the College on behalf of the Student Finance Board (SFB),” according to the College’s Website. SFB, in turn, is responsible for allocating those funds to organizations, such as CUB and Student Government (SG), both of which need money for programming. The fee is included in College students’ fees every year. In the 2015-16 school year, students paid $277.40 each for the SAF, according to the breakdown of student fees in PAWS. During the fora, Hecht introduced students to the business operations manager position — a full-time staff member who will work alongside the SFB student staff.

According to Hecht, the staff member would make sure checks were being cut, would keep the office open during the hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the work week and will be around over the summer while the SFB student staff is away.

Hecht proposed the idea for the position due to recommendations given to SFB since 2012 in the form of management notes from audits — an outside third party that looks to see how much money SFB has left and if the members did their jobs correctly.

Although Operations Director of SFB and senior economics major Thomas Barr said that SFB passes its audits every year, Hecht said that she must address the issues that have been presented to her during her two years working at the College.

However, students voiced concerns about the necessity of having a full-time staff member working with the student employees of SFB. “I’m just not necessarily seeing the viability of hiring a full-time (business operations manager),” Barr said. “I don’t think the concern is there to the extent (of) keeping the office (open from) 9 to 5. I think that’s something (that) us as students can work out.”

Barr went on to explain his concern for the leadership opportunities that students have in SFB. “I would really hate to see an SFB leadership, any leadership job on campus, taken away,” Barr said. “I think that would be a true disservice to students.”

Hecht made it clear in the fora that she would not be taking away the responsibilities of the SFB staff members, but instead, the person would just be assisting

Kim Iannarone / Photo Editor

the students in the office.

“I’m not taking away the allocation (of work) from SFB. I’m asking to have an office that will be available from 9 to 5 to make sure that the operations are happening that’s accountable to the College, that’s on the College’s system,” Hecht said.

Another concern raised about hiring a full-time staff member was be the amount of money the College would be paying the individual to help SFB. According to Barr, it currently costs the College about $40,000 a year to have SFB’s services. It would cost the College about $50,000 more, according to Barr, to pay for a full-time staff member. That would make the total cost to run SFB $90,000 annually, Barr said.

Executive Director of SFB and senior accounting major Brandon Klein voiced the same concern as Barr did.

“I’m not really understanding why someone would replace a less costly structure with a more costly structure, although there’s been consistent success in the program,” Klein said.

Although Hecht received unsure responses for the first position, she was met with a different reaction for the diversity and inclusion counselor, a staff member who would assist students with issues such as culture, race and identity. Hecht hopes this would would help strengthen diversity and inclusion on the campus.

“I would speak to students of color and they would say, ‘I don’t see myself at The College of New Jersey,’” Hecht said.

Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs Elizabeth Bapasola explained the educational purpose of the position, emphasizing that it would not only be for those of minority groups, but those that are in majority groups so they can better understand the diverse culture surrounding them on campus.

“What we’re looking for is a person… who could provide that higher level (of) expertise for students, that mentoring advising for students that they’re not currently getting, (as well as) educational programs to support students,” Bapasola said.

The students in multicultural organizations in attendance expressed support for the plan, saying that it would give other students a chance to get to know other cultures at the College.

A possible third position that Hecht plans to create is a club sports and intramural director, who would help oversee and manage the 20 club sports the College has

on campus — a number that, according to Hecht, is too many for one person to manage. Without this position, she said, there would have to be cuts made to the number of club sports at the College.

“We know we (have) to figure out a way to have some more oversight,” Hecht said. “ If nothing were to change… I (would still only) have one person (Robert Simels) overseeing all of recreation, so we’re talking about the Fitness Center, we’re talking about classes, intramurals, club sports and so we’ll need to bring that down.”

The last position, which Hecht said would possibly be taken away, received the most criticism and harsh feedback from students. Hecht originally proposed that the CUB adviser’s salary would be moved to the SAF, allowing there to be more money to pay for a second case manager for students.

“My initial proposal was to move that position onto the fee because I would not have a need for that position if it weren’t for (SAF),” Hecht said.

With Hecht’s original plan, Assistant Director of Student Activities and CUB adviser Jess Claar would have an expanded role and would be able to do more than she does now with class councils and for all student organizations in regards to contracts, Hecht said.

Toward the end of the forum, Hecht explained that Claar’s position would most likely not be moved and she would still receive her salary from the Brower Student Center fee, another fee that students pay each year, which was $124.50 for the Spring 2016 semester.

As each position was discussed, it became clear that there were multiple issues with having the money come out of the SAF. Students offered suggestions for cost-effective ways that the SAF could be used in case that the $300,000 is taken out.

Since the SAF is paid by the students, when a student attends an SAF-funded event — such as a comedy show or concert — they are essentially getting their money paid back to them.

Throughout both forums, students made it clear that the main issue at hand was simply where the money was coming from.

Students pointed out that the money taken out of SAF was money that is meant for student programming.

According to Hecht, in this year alone, CUB received 51 percent of the fee, or about $900,000 out of the $1.8 million that SFB was originally allocated.

Next semester, CUB will be receiving about $750,000, according to Hecht. Some students didn’t understand the need to cut money from an organization that has successfully planned weekly events for College students to enjoy.

According to Hecht, the amount came from the people in CUB. “We looked back historically at the past three to four years of spending for the (CUB) and they averaged between $740 (thousand) and $770 (thousand) per year, and they’ve always been able to provide a pretty successful calendar of events,” Claar said. “Knowing that this year, CUB took advantage of SFB’s willingness to give money. They fully admit that they asked for a lot and they received a lot and they were able to do some pretty amazing programs.”

Claar noted that the $200,000 difference between this year and next is not an “entrical” part of CUB’s successful programming on campus, and the money could be used for other programs that need funding for events.

Even though losing $200,000 would not greatly affect CUB and its programming, students questioned what that

would mean for ticket prices.

According to Claar, this year was the first year that tickets were offered at a very low cost — the Spring Concert was $10.

Claar said that CUB and SFB discussed significantly lowering the cost of the tickets for the school year. Usually, concert tickets at the College cost between $15 to $25, so the price of the tickets would go up, but it wouldn’t be a substantial difference, according to Claar.

Although students were assured that programming would not be affected, concerns were raised by Klein about how students’ fees are really handled.

Klein brought up a NorthJersey.com article from Wednesday, April 27, that listed colleges in New Jersey that didn’t make it clear how money was being spent. The article said that the College, along with Kean and William Paterson universities, failed to explain the payroll costs in the description of how the money is used.

According the article, College spokesperson Dave Muha said that the College is transparent with the cost of attendance.

The article went on to say that the College would be looking into developing “written policies and procedures for the fees.”

During the fora, students questioned whether or not full-time salaries should be paid for out of the SAF. Many students had interpreted the description of the SAF to mean that the funds could only go toward funding student programs.

According to Hecht, though, part-time coaches salaries — about $4,000 — are currently being paid for by the SAF. Students argued back that full-time positions are more expensive than part-time ones, and therefore the SAF should not be used to fund them.

“We have not dipped our toe into paying for a full-time staff and benefits out of the fee (yet),” Hecht said. “However, nationally, 99.9 percent of institutions pay for full-time staff.”

According to Hecht, it is not enough for the fee to just be used for student programming and choices need to be made to help students.

“These are the choices we have to make,” Hecht said. “Do we trim some things to lessen the burden on staff or do we pay for some staff? The fee just being used for programming and activities is causing staff costs. You’re not realizing because the College is supplementing.”

At the forefront of the fora, the importance of student programming held true.

Students cast out that the reduction of SAF funds being used for student programming might prohibit the number of events that occur on campus.

Freshman urban education and history double major Max Falvey said that these programs are what students look forward to and is a major draw in for students seeking to attend the College.

“Bringing up CUB and all of our other organizations that do amazing programs, it definitely is a major draw in point to (the College) — it’s something that we are known for,” Falvey said.

Favey also said that while the SAF may be used to pay staff salaries, its intended purpose is to serve the students of the College.

“To me it comes (down to): Where is that money coming from? And if it’s from the SAF, though the purpose of the SAF is not for programming, to my knowledge, that’s the only money programming gets,” Falvey said. “I didn’t know it was also allocated to be a staffing budget. I feel like in the beautifully scenic, somewhat desolate Ewing, N.J., the programs give students something to do instead of just going out and sitting in their room at night.”

page 4 The Signal May 4, 2016

May 4, 2016 The Signal page 5

Changes to program policy proposed in fora

CAP proposes changes to some College policies.

By Megan Kelly Staff Writer

The Committee on Academic Programs (CAP) held a series of fora in room 230 of the Social Sciences Building on Tuesday, April 26, to discuss recently proposed changes to the College’s Program Approval Policy, Graduate Certificate Programs, the Undergraduate Internship Policy and the Change of Major Policy.

The fora, which were lead by CAP Chair Mike Marino, began with a short discussion on the Program Approval Policy.

The revisions to this policy were mainly to make the process more efficient and amend the policy to match the requirements set by the state of New Jersey.

The only real issue with CAP’s Preliminary Recommendation on Program Approval Policy that was brought up was with the wording of “Step 1” of the proposed policy, which reads: “In all cases, the initiating entity should identify the academic unit that will house the program, which will then be responsible for developing the proposal.”

Mathematics Professor Cynthia Curtis worried that the phrase “the initiating entity” sounds coercive — something that is supposed to be corrected in the new policy.

In the next forum, those in attendance had no comment on

Kim Iannarone / Photo Editor

the proposed changes to the approval process for Graduate Certificate Programs.

According to CAP’s Preliminary Graduate Certificate Programs document, CAP received a charge from the Steering Committee on Wednesday, Feb. 3, that quoted a memo from Assistant Provost Jennifer Palmgren. In the memo, she brought up that the former policy stated the approval process for proposals for both a graduate certificate and a degree program are the same. It was suggested by Palmgren that CAP should distinguish between the approval processes for each, as the state requirements for the two are different.

The forum about the proposed changes to the College’s Undergraduate Internship Policy began next. In CAP’s Preliminary Undergraduate Internships Policy document, CAP proposes to change the minimum required GPA from 2.5 to 2.0 and to include that a minimum of three course units from the College must be completed prior to the internship. In the same document, CAP also suggests lowering the minimum number of required on-the-job hours from 50 to 45. In addition, CAP argues that all internships should include specific learning goals and objectives, as well as that a representative of the department

pertaining to the student’s major should make contact with the onsite supervisor to establish those learning goals. CAP representatives also encourage students and their faculty sponsors to provide feedback on the internship quality at the end of the semester.

Curtis began the discussion by voicing a concern that the new policy suggested all of the student’s required courses have to be completed before they can participate in an internship, but that is not necessarily true.

“I think we should change ‘after theory education’ to ‘after some theory education has been completed…’ It really is not an endof-education experience,” Curtis said. “I think we would not want to imply that (the students) had to finish all of their coursework (before getting an internship).”

Biology Associate Professor Amanda Norvell suggested that the policy should also include institutions as part of the list of places where students can carry out internships, since many biology students, for example, complete their internships at institutions. Norvell then addressed that the policy doesn’t mention syllabi, as internships are technically courses.

Director of the Career Staff Debra Kelly said that the syllabi could include what is expected from students in a professional

setting, since an internship is often a student’s first experience in an office.

“I think we should have something… preparing the expectations of students that are leaving our institution (and) what some of those expectations should be, like, just professionally what they should be doing,” Kelly said.

“That could a part of the syllabus or blending learning.”

Curtis then brought up her concern that the policy requires an intensive written assignment. The policy states that a “substantial written assignment (or portfolio) requiring research and/or creative work should be required,” but Curtis is concerned that mathematics is not something that students learn at an internship and that a research paper wouldn’t be about mathematics.

Norvell suggested that the policy should state that different course levels should require different assignments at the end of the internships.

It was then brought up by Marketing and Interdisciplinary Business Chair and Business Professor John McCarty that many companies require students to obtain credit for their internships because they are not being paid.

McCarty said that he gives students 0.25 units when he can.

“I just don’t feel right being a part of that scam that the companies are doing,” he said. This opened up a discussion about considering the level of the internship and the course units being given to determine the final assignment, whether it’s an intensive written assignment or a reflective paper.

McCarty pointed out that students can receive up to three units for internships, which is about 10 percent of the required units to get a degree.

“Three seems like a lot for a 32-unit degree,” he said.

The group moved onto the last forum of discussion: the Change of Major policy. In CAP’s Preliminary Recommendation on Change of Major Policy document, CAP recommends to combine the Change

of Major Request and the Change of Major policies to include that all change of major requests must be received by Admissions no later than May 15 each year.

In this document, CAP also suggests that a performance standard be established in a maximum of three foundation courses for entry into a new major and to state that programs may require an audition, portfolio, essay or interview, but no more than three performance standards can be required of a student. It is also recommended that all programs are required to publish these entrance requirements and standards. The College also acknowledges its responsibility to expedite the change of major requests for students, but that some departments have certain space and enrollment requirements.

According to Curtis, the new policy implies that a student must complete five requirements, including up to three foundation courses, when a student must only complete three requirements that could potentially be foundation courses.

She suggested that the very last sentence be changed to inform students that they could possibly force themselves into taking more than the minimum required credits for a degree by starting a new program after already being enrolled at the College.

The forum then addressed the fact that when students change their majors, it can significantly lengthen the time they spend at the College, as some majors’ foundation courses require prerequisites. Students could spend a year taking these prerequisites and then find that they didn’t perform well enough to enter that major.

“We talked about that a lot and wondered how firm we should be on limiting those things,” School of Arts and Communications Assistant Dean James Day said.

“Right now, we know that there are problems with students having too long to go through a process only to find that there is still no guarantee.”

Boy leaves backpack near back wall in Business Building

By Ellie Schuckman News Editor

• Officers met with a female student at Campus Police Headquarters on Monday, April 18, at 10:30 a.m., who reported a series of harassment incidents. The student said that she was dating a male from August 2012 to May 2013. The relationship ended after he left for military basic training and the relationship could no longer be sustained long distance, police said. According to the student, the two kept in touch on a friendly basis after the breakup. However, once she began dating someone else in 2014, she told him she could no longer keep in contact with him for the sake of not creating any problems with her new boyfriend. She stated that at that time, he told her that he would not forget her and that he would continue contacting her in order to create interference with her new relationship. She stated that she blocked him on Facebook and her cellphone and then did not hear from him for a long time, police said. During the summer of 2015, he sent her a direct message on Facebook that read, “It’s time…” She stated that she was somewhat alarmed and made contact with him to inquire about the message. He

then explained during a telephone conversation that he was not over her and was upset because he felt like she had wronged him and disregarded her current relationship status, according to police. He stated, “I don’t care.

Fuck your boyfriend.” The student stated that he attempted to “friend” her relatives on Facebook in what she believes is an attempt to have access to her.

She has not spoken to him since the summer of 2015 nor has she made any contact with him via social media.

• On Tuesday, April 19, officers met with a male student at Campus Police Headquarters at noon who reported that an unidentified person’s Facebook account was hacked by an unknown person. The student reported that he first went to his hometown police department to report the hack. He then received a Facebook friend request from the unidentified person and accepted it, thinking this person was updating their profile, police said. When he accepted the friend request, he received several messages from the hacker through this Facebook account that stated if he didn’t pay the hacker money, the hacker would send all of the student’s friends a video of the unidentified person. The student stated that the hacker impersonated

the unidentified person through the Facebook profile, according to police. The student was advised to forward all Facebook messages to his hometown police department. Campus Police then contacted the student’s hometown police department. The case will be handled by the prosecutor’s office, police said.

• At approximately 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 21, officers met with a male student at Campus Police Headquarters who reported that his laptop and backpack were stolen days prior. The student reported that the items were stolen between Tuesday, April 12, at 6:50 p.m. and Wednesday, April 13, at 11 a.m. He stated that he was finishing taking a test in the Business Building and left his backpack, with his laptop inside, leaning up against the back wall near his desk. The student did not realize he left his backpack in the classroom until 7:50 p.m. and he was unable to check the Business Building until 11 a.m. on Wednesday, April 13, police said. He stated that the bag and laptop were not in the room at that time. The stolen items are valued at $776 and there are no suspects at this time, Campus Police said.

Anyone with information can contact Campus Police at 609-771-2345.

page 6 The Signal May 4, 2016

Clubs / Process of approval can be frustrating

Kim Iannarone / Photo Editor

TCNJ Ski and Snowboard Club presents to SG to gain recognition. continued from page 1

Governmental Affairs (GA) Vice President and junior urban early childhood education and English double major Ceili Boles said.

“It doesn’t always happen that way.”

That goal was met for the new TCNJ Political Union, according to the club’s President and senior history and urban studies double major Sam Fogelgaren.

“We were offered a date within 72 hours of when I contacted the constitutional review chair,” Fogelgaren said. “When we were approved, it took about two weeks until we were approved in front of the full executive board. It was pretty quick. Two and a half weeks is a reasonable amount of time.”

As for TCNJ Ski and Snowboard Club, which began when Skelly created a Facebook group for prospective members last summer, the process was elongated by the club’s athletic and liability components, according to Boles.

“They didn’t really tell us all the different hoops we’d have to jump through,”

TCNJ Ski and Snowboard Club Treasurer and freshman communications major Kiersten Newkirk said. “It took many more steps than anticipated. We’re not even done figuring out where we fall under the insurance policy.”

According to Newkirk, the group held successful interest sessions and were optimistic that the process would be completed before the winter season. The club’s founders were sent to Director of Recreation Rob Simels, who forwarded them to an insurance representative.

“It was all very disjointed and disorganized,” TCNJ Ski and Snowboard Club Secretary and freshman music education major Marshall Samuels said. “(Simels) told us to get in contact with the insurance people. I couldn’t get a hold of them for two weeks because the representative was in another country. When she eventually came back, she told us we couldn’t even meet with her until we met with (Simels) first, even though we had already met with him. It was all a lack of communication. It’s just unorganized, but we’re trying to make it work.”

This isn’t the first time a club was frustrated with SG’s recognition process.

“We faced issues with the Student Government. They failed us probably three times over the course of a year,” Competitive Gaming Club’s (CGC) former Vice President and senior accounting major Martin Faynor said in a Signal article from Tuesday, February 16.

According to the same Signal article, the CGC re-submitted paperwork for months before finally being awarded recognition.

“They had to get narrower and narrower with the club idea,” former CGC Historian and senior interactive multimedia major Jon Sofo said. “Each time they were reviewed, it was tedious. They had to wait a certain number of weeks after fixing a single thing.”

While the CGC organized events on its own accord, the TCNJ Ski and Snowboard Club was forced to sit back and watch as the winter season melted away.

“I’ve heard from other clubs that there are issues with responding to emails promptly and things like that,” Newkirk said. “For things that are time-sensitive — we wanted to have our club ready before the season — that causes problems.”

Although not officially recognized by SG, the club made an attempt to bring some of its more than 100 Facebook members together for a trip to the Poconos Mountains on Saturday, Jan. 30. Much like the group’s attempts to find answers for their insurance, the event fell through when the Office of Recreation failed to get the proper paperwork approved, according to Newkirk.

Despite their disappointment with the process, the group members persevered and held meetings throughout the semester. According to Skelly, he refused to let the long months get to him.

“This is gonna be where you’re spending the next four years of your life,” Skelly said.

“If you really want a club that you can’t see yourself going four years without, take the initiative (to create it). It may be hard at first, but in the long-run, it’s gonna pay off. You’re going to meet a lot of people that

have similar interests as you.”

Nearly a year after Skelly first discovered the College was lacking a ski and snowboard club, he found himself standing before SG with his tightly-knit executive board colleagues by his side. When the meeting was all said and done, their club was fully recognized and ready to plan for the upcoming winter season.

According to Samuels, the process would have been easier if they weren’t all incoming freshmen last summer.

“As an incoming freshman, it’s definitely a lot harder because you don’t know your way around campus, and you don’t know all the people that work at TCNJ,” he said.

“Get the constitution done in the summer.

You can go right into it in the fall and as an incoming freshman, you’re not going to get it done immediately.”

In regards to improving the process, the group said the College should establish a chair for non-competitive athletic clubs.

“We found it kind of odd because there’s several other clubs that need to be under the insurance policy, but aren’t competitive, like Aikido,” Newkirk said. “TCNJ doesn’t have a precedent for anything like that… It makes students really have to go out of their way to get things done in a timely manner.”

Both the TCNJ Ski and Snowboard Club and the TCNJ Political Union have events planned for the upcoming semester and can be found by name on Facebook.

Although their purposes are different, both clubs aim to bring something new to the College’s community.

“We’re looking to consistently address political issues throughout the semester,” Fogelgaren said. “We want to sustain political engagement on campus.”

For Skelly, his club’s newfound recognition is a validation of the group’s passionate efforts.

“It’s hard, but you all work through it together to overcome the obstacles,” Skelly said. “It was a challenge and a bit of a pain, but we’re trying to do it because it’s something we love.”

Female CEO talks business to College students

By Brianna Cetrulo Correspondent

A professional leader, retired athlete and mother of two, Cathy Engelbert, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Deloitte — the largest professional services firm in the U.S. — inspired business students and educators at the College on Monday, April 25. The School of Business’s Women in Business sponsored Engelbert’s visit that filled the Library Auditorium with an audience that eagerly absorbed her words of wisdom.

Prior to serving as CEO, Engelbert has held leadership positions throughout her career at Deloitte.

Serving as a member of the Deloitte LLP Board of Directors, she also held partner roles serving and advising pharmaceutical and multinational companies, according to Deloitte’s Website.

The CEO was recently featured as one of Fortune’s Most Powerful Women. She was made aware of this acknowledgment when her teenage daughter said, “Mom, you’re No. 21. You beat Taylor Swift.”

Engelbert is also the first female CEO of a Big Four accounting firm, which, in addition to the American firm Deloitte, includes British firms Ernst & Young and

PricewaterhouseCoopers and as well as the Dutch firm KPMG. “I was taken aback by what a big deal this was,” Engelbert said.

The CEO attributes her success to an early foundation in leadership. While studying accounting at Lehigh University, she was a two-season athlete in varsity basketball and lacrosse.

“I have been competing since the day I was born,” Engelbert said, adding that she was one of eight children.

During her talk, Engelbert emphasized the importance of leadership in life.

“Aspire to be a leader and good things happen,” Engelbert said.

Along with leadership skills, Engelbert shared one of her tools for success. She calls it the “Three C’s.” The first “C” is “captain.”

She said that it is important to be the captain of your own career and life. The second “C” stands for “coaches.” She advised the audience to surround themselves with mentors. Lastly, the third “C” represents “confidence.”

“Confidence is the biggest impediment (for) women,” Engelbert said.

Engelbert also stressed the importance of networking.

“You have to show a little aggression to make networking

successful,” she said.

During the event, the CEO said she has her own version of the mantra “Work. Life. Balance.” called “Work. Life. Integration.”

While following this, she was able to coach her daughter’s basketball team from the time she was in fourth to eighth grade, which evidently took place during an accountant’s busy season.

Engelbert found that it was more advantageous to be transparent with clients. She said that this has resulted in a change in the culture of the business interactions that she has participated in.

“There is a huge amount of flexibility,” Engelbert said. “We just don’t take advantage of it.”

Engelbert also noted that Deloitte does not have a quota on the number of women required to be employed by the company.

However, Deloitte took on an initiative in 1993 concerning the advancement and retention of their female employees.

“My rising to CEO was an outcome of an inclusive culture,” said Engelbert, who acknowledged the success of the initiative.

During the Q&A part of the talk, senior accounting major Alyssa Blochlinger asked if there were differences in her expectations of being a CEO.

“I wish I listened more in psychology class,” Engelbert said.

She highlighted how important it is to be able to pick up on what motivates different people and the various different leadership styles.

In addition, senior accounting major Katie Padmore asked if there were any times that Engelbert struggled as a CEO. Engelbert shared a story with the audience about a recent incident at a business round table event where she was stopped from entering the event by another woman, who told her that the dinner was for CEOs only.

Wrapping up the talk, Engelbert said that she wished that she had the opportunity to do a semester abroad during college. She said that “of all my internal time, 55 percent is spent globally.”

She also said that analytics is a necessary aspect of accounting that must be integrated into the business school.

Engelbert is proud to be a role model for women in the business field.

“We have to have this gender quake,” Engelbert said, encouraging women to enter into the field of business.

Kim Iannarone / Photo Editor

Engelbert tells students to aspire to be strong leaders.

Finals Fest features stress-free fun and food May 4, 2016 The Signal page 7

By Olivia Rizzo Staff Writer

Finals Fest has become a tradition at the end of every semester at the College. Many students feel the possibility of being crushed under the weight of their textbooks as they prepare for their final exams, and Finals Fest provides students with a small reprieve to the dizzying amount of hours spent studying and finishing papers and projects.

Hosted by Student Government (SG) in collaboration with over 20 other student organizations, Finals Fest has become a staple experience for the College community as the semester comes to an end.

SG’s Vice President of Student Services Olivia White, a junior urban early childhood education and sociology double major, has planned the four-day stress relief extravaganza for the past two years.

“It’s also a way for student organizations to have a presence on campus and give back to the student body,” White said. “It’s really a great way for all student organizations to come together for one event and provide a great experience for the entire student body.”

Participating in Finals Fest is meant to be both enjoyable and rewarding for the organizations that come together to provide students with small moments of relaxation and a worry-free atmosphere.

“APO (Alpha Phi Omega) has chosen to take part in Finals Fest

because we think it is fantastic that so many organizations come together during Finals Fest to help other students relax during the most stressful time of the semester,” APO President and sophomore statistics major Ethan Crasto said.

This year, APO has planned a coloring event during which students can de-stress, but also perform some community service, as all of the artistic creations made at their event will be donated to Color a Smile, a non-profit that sends the pictures to nursing homes and American troops overseas.

The Mixed Signals, the College’s improv comedy group, helps prove that laughter really is the best medicine. They are scheduled to perform a comedy improv show during this semester’s festivities.

This semesterly end of term festival of food, crafts and entertainment doesn’t just happen overnight.

Weeks of planning and preparation go into making this event possible.

“Finals Fest is probably the most time-consuming event that SG plans,” White said. “We start by securing locations for the four days, with a new event almost every hour from 10 a.m. (to) midnight. Then we email organizations to find out what events they would like to host, as well as plan and request funding for our own giveaways.”

This is just the start of the planning process for Finals Fest. Additionally, SG must coordinate with all participating organizations, contact outside vendors, create a schedule with graphics and advertise the

White outlines specific events that are planned for Finals Fest.

event to the campus.

All of this hard work does not go unnoticed by the student body, as many rely on the Finals Fest activities as a way to motivate themselves to get through the last weeks of the semester.

“For me, Finals Fest always provides a good study break and distraction from the stress of finals,” senior elementary education and mathematics double major Carissa O’Larte said.

Everyone has their own favorite part of Finals Fest. Whether it’s the free food giveaways, the stress relief of making arts and crafts or the chance to watch their fellow students perform, everyone can find what helps them distress.

Junior psychology major Olivia Pruznick cited the free food giveaways as the way she sets up her personal reward system for

taking studying breaks and getting through her work.

“The free bagels, pizza and the stress relief dogs are really the only way I manage to get through exams each semester,” Pruznick said.

There are also some new changes coming to Finals Fest this year. With the construction in the Brower Student Center making it difficult for students to access the space, Finals Fest will be held almost completely outside this year, according to White.

“We try to make Finals Fest bigger and better every year,” she said. “I think these new changes will actually enhance the event, and possibly remain permanent… (for) Finals Fest.”

Another new addition to the Finals Fest schedule is that SG will be adding a Halo Farms ice

Kim Iannarone / Photo Editor

cream pint giveaway to the schedule. One-hundred fifty lucky students will be able to snag their own free pint of the locally-made ice cream.

Although some new changes are coming to the end-of-semester festival, students shouldn’t worry since the tradition of free pizza and bagels will continue.

SG and the rest of the participating organizations have really stepped up their game, programing wise this year, White said.

She noted that the student organizations participating in this year’s Finals Fest have come through with a lot of great new ideas for the end of semester festivities. Final exams are often daunting and stressful, but the difficult times are made a little easier when you are able to enjoy midnight pizza.

SFB approves funding for summer retreats

Kim Iannarone / Photo Editor

SFB allocates funds for a bus trip to the San Gennaro Festival.

By Roderick Macioch Staff Writer

During its final meeting of the semester on Wednesday, April 27, the Student Finance Board (SFB) funded summer retreats and events that will take place early next semester.

The Leadership Development Program (LDP) presented its proposal for its Fall Leadership Retreat, which is “an overnight trip open to all TCNJ students to help (improve their) leadership skills, such as confidence, communication and public speaking. This is also a great time for the leaders of TCNJ to come together and bond while trying to brainstorm ways to improve student activities on campus,” according to the request form presented

by LDP. The board voted to fully grant LDP’s request in the amount of $6,616.75 to cover expenses including lodging and transportation.

The retreat is scheduled to take place from Friday, Oct. 14, to Saturday, Oct. 15.

Representatives of the College Union Board (CUB) proposed their plan for CUB’s Summer Retreat and Training for executive board members. As stated in CUB’s request form, the retreat is “an opportunity for the new executive board to bond with one another through various activities, while also having a designated time to train.” Overall, the trip “is an essential part of the board’s cohesiveness, effectiveness and understanding of the innerworkings of being on the executive board,” according to the form.

The board voted to fully fund the event, in the amount of $2,000, to pay for lodging and refreshments.

The retreat will take place from Friday, Aug. 5, to Sunday, Aug. 7.

Women in Learning and Leadership (WILL) then proposed A March to End Rape Culture featuring Laci Green. According to

WILL’s request form, “the purpose of this event is to bring to campus Laci Green, a popular YouTube Star whose online work on sex education has led to her hosting MTV’s first original online show, ‘Braless.’” Overall, “the benefit of this activity would be to raise awareness of the negative ways we talk about women and sexuality and to educate the TCNJ community about how to reduce sexual violence,” according to the form.

In total, WILL requested $13,500 for Green’s appearance. The event was tabled in hopes that a less expensive speaker can be found or a lower price can be negotiated with Green.

WILL also requested funding for an appearance by politician and activist Liz Abzug. This event, co-sponsored by Women in Business, will “create a conversation about the importance of having women and girls in leadership position, and to inspire women to lead and be more politically engaged,” according to the request form.

The event was fully funded in the amount of $3,000 to pay for Abzug’s appearance fee and travel expenses.

The event will take place on an undetermined evening in October and is tentatively planned to be held in the Business Building Lounge.

TCNJ Italian Club requested funding for its San Gennaro Festival Bus Trip. The trip will “bring students to Little Italy, the neighborhood in New York City where the Italian American culture was truly born.

The annual festival of San Gennaro brings together Italian Americans from near and far with food, games and festivities in which TCNJ students can immerse themselves in the culture for a day,” according

to the request form.

The board voted to fully grant TCNJ Italian Club’s request in the amount of $1,135.20 to pay for the bus.

The trip is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 25.

Chabad proposed Farbreng-It-On, cosponsored by Alpha Epsilon Pi and Hillel. According to Chabad’s request form, “a ‘Farbrengen’ is a traditional Chassidic gathering, usually held to commemorate a significant date in the Chabad calendar.

It is a time for inspiration and motivation to kick start a new year.” The event aims to educate “the campus community on an old Jewish tradition full of joyful energy that can be enjoyed by students of all backgrounds,” according to the form.

Funding in the amount of $650, to cover the costs of decorations, utensils and paper goods, was granted by the board.

The event will take place on Wednesday, Aug. 31. The time and location have not yet been announced.

The final order of business was the Black Student Union’s (BSU) summer retreat, designed to provide an opportunity “to reflect on the year (BSU has) had and to work on amplifying programs that were successful, and restructuring others that weren’t, and creating new programs to further engage students,” according to BSU’s request form.

In all, BSU requested $2,000 for its hotel rooms.

Due to the lack of information that BSU was able to provide regarding the event, the board voted to table the event. *Even though SFB agrees to finance certain events, there is no guarantee these events will take place. The approval only makes the funds available.

page 8 The Signal May 4, 2016

Dean / Laughton leaves behind a legacy in the arts

He is grateful for the opportunity to help develop programs

Laughton will retire in December.

tcnj.edu

continued from page 1

of the College.”

According to TCNJ Magazine, Laughton has traveled around the world as a higher education educator and administrator, international arts consultant and performer and trained mediator. His travels include Russia, Ukraine, Brazil and China. With that type of experience, he was the perfect candidate for dean at the College.

In the same TCNJ Magazine interview, he talked about his time at St. Mary’s College of Maryland in St. Mary’s City, Md., and how it helped him build upon his vision for the College.

“I started my career as a professor at St. Mary’s

College in Maryland and helped build that program into a school very similar to TCNJ,” Laughton said.

“In fact, (St. Mary’s) was kind of a model that a lot of states looked at when developing liberal arts colleges as an alternative to large state universities.”

While the College may be better known for majors like business, nursing and education, the School of Arts and Communication has been moving up the ranks due to Laughton’s experience in this field and expansion of the school’s outlook. He helped establish the TCNJ Center for the Arts and transition interactive multimedia into a larger program that offers students a chance to explore new courses.

He set the standard for improvement in the School of the Arts and Communication and because of that, he has built strong relationships with alumni and donors, growing the school’s funding and endowment by more than $2 million.

Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Jacqueline Taylor talked about the impact Laughton has made on the School of Arts and Communication.

“He increased the activity of partnerships internationally, while locally also supporting the Trenton arts community,” Taylor said. “He did a terrific job managing the resources to upgrade Kendall and Mayo concert halls.”

Taylor enjoyed working with Laughton for his commitment, passion and sense of humor.

“He has a gift for hospitality,” Taylor said. “Dean Laughton would open his doors for anyone. He is so passionate and supportive about the people he is leading.”

With his tenure ending in nine months, Laughton has his sights set on other projects, while also wanting to continue his musical performances and embarking on the issues of social justice that he is so passionate about.

Laughton is an activist in violence prevention and has also worked with charitable organizations to raise money and awareness of how the arts can help communities, according to TCNJ Magazine. He organized campaigns in

California and Massachusetts, where artists and musicians helped young people living in areas with high gang activity see the importance of community and unity.

“(Laughton) increased the activity of partnerships internationally, while locally also supporting the Trenton arts community.”

— Jacqueline Taylor

provost and vice president for Academic Affairs

Not only has Laughton been a trusted co-worker to Taylor, but also a friend and someone she admired.

“I compare our friendship to our dogs’ friendship,” Taylor said. “My dog, Trudy, looks up to his dog, Frida, literally and figuratively. That’s the same relationship we share and I am truly going to miss him.”

Laughton is not only proud of the work he has done for the College and the programs he has developed, but is honored to have worked alongside hardworking faculty at the College.

“My time at the College... has given me the opportunity to work with an engaged faculty, dedicated administrators and a community of students who exhibit enthusiasm and excitement for making a difference in the world,” Laughton said. “In addition, I’ve had the opportunity to help develop programs that connect to the community and to engage the arts and communication with important issues of social justice and entrepreneurship. For this, I am extremely grateful.”

Student / Participation in surveys decreases over the years

continued from page 1

Reappointment Committee looks at the professor’s application, then the dean of their school, CPC, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Jacqueline Taylor and then College President R. Barbara Gitenstein — in that order, according to Weng.

According to Academic Affair’s Website, the CPC — made up of 12 faculty members and librarians from a variety of disciplines — evaluates each applicant on the criteria and standards detailed in the Board of Trustees-approved Promotion and Reappointment document.

This document details the three primary criteria: teaching, scholarship and service, with teaching being the most important, Weng said.

In order to evaluate teaching effectiveness, every evaluating entity, including the CPC, looks at the applicant’s student evaluations and course syllabi from three to five years prior to submitting the application, colleagues’ peer reviews of their teaching and course materials that are deemed relevant by the candidate, according to the document.

Since every type of faculty is affected by the student evaluations, Bates questions the representativeness and accuracy of the evaluations’ results. She pointed out that certain courses and instructors always receive lower ratings in evaluations.

“It’s not just at TCNJ, it’s a national issue,” Bates said. “I have concerns that student evaluations are not a good measure of the quality of education or the quality of instruction, frankly. Because we know that certain patterns exist and some of them are that some types of instructors get lower student evaluations than others.”

According to Bates, liberal learning courses get lower ratings than upper-level seminars within the student’s major. In addition, writing-intensive courses, as well as

“threshold classes that are designed to sort of weed out students” in each major, get lower ratings, too, Bates said.

“It makes sense. If people are taking an elective in their major, they’re happier — they’re likely to give higher student evaluations,” Bates said. “Whether or not those evaluations capture who is a good instructor and who is not a good instructor, I have some concerns about that because none of that is ever taken into consideration.”

Bates expressed concern about the way the College interprets the student evaluation data.

“The promotions process here at TCNJ really just wants to look at the numbers,” she said. “‘Well, what was your average?

What was your mean score?’ And while those I think are reasonable to include (in the process), I just have some serious hesitation about using that as a very powerful measure of the quality of instruction.”

As a sociologist, Bates is worried about how representative the surveys are since they switched to online from print. As a result, the survey responses are voluntary, which generally garners the most positive and negative responses. “(The results) will look more like (ratemyprofessor.com) than a legitimate sample of students,” Bates said.

For Dunne, who gives mostly positive evaluations, she thinks the evaluations are a useful tool for both the students and the faculty.

“I feel like it’s good that the College (has evaluations),” Dunne said. “I think it’s better than not doing it because it’s just a way for students to express their opinions about a course and I think that is super important because nobody knows the course better than the students that are in it.”

However, fewer students have been participating since the format changed.

According to Taylor, when the evaluations

officially went online during the Fall 2014 semester, they had a 65 percent participation rate, which includes both undergraduate and graduate students. The participation rates then fell to 52 percent in Spring 2015 and then 49 percent in Fall 2015, Taylor said.

“We really need to get the word out to students,” Taylor said. “That’s the best way to counter the skepticism that students have in whether the (evaluations) matter.”

Although student evaluations are an important part of the application review process, their unreliability is the reason why other criteria are examined during performance reviews as well as promotion applications.

“It’s possible to see some negative evaluations from students, but we also look at peer evaluations because we cannot all rely on students’ evaluations,” Weng said. “We also look up the percentage of students filling out (the evaluations). For example, if there are 20 or 15 students in one class and only three… submitted their evaluations, then this could skew the final (results of the) evaluations.”

As a personal solution to this problem, women’s and gender studies Professor Janet Gray gives all of her students her own questionnaire.

“In doing my own evaluations, which are really sort of more focused on ‘What have you put into the course? What are you going to take away? What are your favorite bits? Most memorable bits?’

That’s far more meaningful to me than the standardized evaluations,” Gray said.

Bates agrees that Gray’s own questionnaire is the best option for teachers looking to improve.

“Students actually typically provide more useful feedback in that context than in anonymous student evaluations, which tend to both bring out both efficiency in answers — so people just quickly fill it out,” Bates said. “Especially now with the electronic, voluntary process, it’s going to bring out the very angry and the very satisfied students and probably miss a lot of the average students.”

In order to combat these bias results and impact each professor’s ability to become better, every student should fill out the student evaluations each semester, according to Weng.

“I believe professors here want students’ feedback to improve their own teaching, not only to get tenured or get a promotion — (that’s) not their primary purpose,” Weng said. “We care about teaching and we care about the success of our students.”

Students submit their evaluations on PAWS.

Photo courtesy of PAWS

May 4, 2016 The Signal page 9

Nation & W rld

Top Bangledeshi gay rights activist killed

AP Photo

People of Bangledesh mourn the victims of the attack.

for the killings of a top gay rights activist and his friend on Monday, April 25, in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka.

Ansar al-Islam, a Bangladeshi Xulhaz Mannan, an editor militant group with close links to for the country’s only LGBT al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility magazine, and his friend, Tanay

By Rohan Ahluwalia Staff Writer

Mojumdar, were hacked to death, allegedly by members of the militant group.

Ansar al-Islam admitted to the killings of Mannan and Mojumdar through Twitter. They claimed to have done it because Mannan and Mojumdar were working “to promote homosexuality… with the help of their masters, the U.S. crusaders and their Indian allies,” BBC News reported.

Despite claiming responsibility, the assertion could not be verified, according to BBC News.

This attack occurred only two days after a university professor was killed by suspected Islamist militants on Saturday, April 23.

According to NPR, Mannan worked for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and was editor of the country’s only LGBT magazine, Roopbaan.

Following his death, USAID released a statement that read, “Today, USAID lost one of our own.

He was the kind of person willing to fight for what he believed in, someone ready to stand up for his own rights and the rights of others.”

Mannan was also responsible for organizing a rally for LGBT youths called “The Rainbow Rally” on Thursday, April 14, the Bengali New Year. According to the New York Times, a friend of Mannan, Sara Hossain, said that Mannan had received death threats from those who opposed the rally.

Tanay Mojumdar, the other victim in these killings, was openly gay and was a leader in the fight for LGBT rights, according to a British photographer who wished to not be named, CNN reported.

The two were not romantically

involved with each other, according to the photographer.

According to CNN, Monday’s attack followed several others in Bangladesh since 2013. At least 20 people — including professors, secular writers and bloggers, foreigners and members of religious minorities — have been killed in attacks blamed on Islamist militants over the last three years.

The Bangladeshi government has so far disputed the claims by the Islamic State or al-Qaeda linked groups for the attacks BBC reported. Instead, the government puts blame on opposition parties or the local Islamist groups.

Despite the government’s direction of blame, Bangladesh, a sunni-dominated nation, will hear backlash how the government does not do enough to protect minority groups — if the killings do not stop.

Family massacre shocks residents of Piketon

By Jennifer Goetz Nation & World Editor

On the night of Sunday, April 22, eight members of the Rhoden family were killed “execution-style” as they slept in four different homes in Piketon, Ohio, according to CNN. In addition to their bodies, authorities discovered hundreds of illegal marijuana crops on these properties when conducting their investigation. The preliminary autopsy results were released for the eight victims and they were shot 32 times in total, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported. The victims were all shot more than once, except for one, and the most gunshots on a single victim was nine.

Some victims were bruised, as well, and according to the Cincinnati Enquirer, a 911 caller claimed that two of the victims looked as if a person “beat the hell out of them.”

The Washington Post reported that the victims were 40-year-old Christopher Rhoden Sr., Kenneth Rhoden, 44, Gary Rhoden, 38, 37-year-old Dana Rhoden, 20-year-old Clarence ‘Frankie’ Rhoden, 20-year-old Hannah Gilley and 19-year-old Hannah Rhoden.

Three young children were spared, including Hanna Rhoden’s 4-day-old infant daughter and Gilley’s baby.

According to ABC News, authorities said that the deaths must have been planned in advance and the attack was a “sophisticated operation.” Attorney General Mike Dewine spoke at a news conference on Sunday, April 24, and said that the killings were a “preplanned execution.”

ABC News reported that Dewine believes the investigation will take time. Currently, there are around 215 law enforcement officials working on this case, according to The Washington Post. The Pike County Sheriff’s office and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation have received over 300 tips, according to a news release from the Attorney General’s Office.

Gary Rhoden’s funeral was held in Kentucky on Thursday, April 28. Gilley’s funeral was in Otway, Ohio, on Saturday, April 30, and the six others were held on Tuesday, May 3. ABC News reported that the community is mourning the loss of the family, who no one suspected to have ties to illegal marijuana crops.

Dana Rhoden was a nursing assistant.

AP Photo

Piketon Police address media in regards to the shooting in rural Ohio.

Chris Rhoden Jr. was a student at Pike County high school. Hanna Rhoden had just taken time off of work to be with her new baby. According to CNN, Piketon, a rural Ohio community, is “tight-knit” and other residents were surprised and shocked to learn that the Rhodens had illegal crops of marijuana on their properties.

Dennis Tschudy, a Piketon resident whose 15-year-old daughter was friends with the young Chris Rhoden, told CNN, that “You would never have seen them

portrayed this way.”

Pike county is split into two by U.S. 23, a north-south highway. This road is close to cities such as Cleveland, St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit and Pittsburgh. These populous areas are where drug trafficking is more common, so Pike county would be a prime supplier.

This investigation is still underway and ABC News reported that authorities have yet to identify any specific suspects or any concrete motives.

Saudi Arabia hopes to limit oil dependency

AP Photo

Saudi Arabia issues the Vision 2030 plan.

By Camellia Carbonaro Staff Writer

On Monday, April 25, Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced that the kingdom would deviate from its dependence on oil. Huffington Post reported that the country has released a blueprint entitled Vision 2030 that seeks to increase Saudi Arabia’s non-oil revenue from $43.6 billion to $267 billion by 2030. Prince Mohammed claims that his national transformation program will enable the kingdom to live

without oil within four years.

This venture was brought about by the latest urgency caused by an unsustainable fiscal policy and economic structure, as well as the dropping revenue from energy sales. Reuters reported that, despite the country’s oil wealth, its people are still facing a 30 percent youth unemployment rate and an economic downturn. PBS NewsHour reported that the regime is currently stuck in a $100 billion budget deficit. During his first international news conference, Prince Mohammed declared that he would not allow his country to be at the “mercy of commodity price volatility or external markets” by helping kick the country’s “oil addiction.” He further explained that the addiction has been what has “disrupted the development of many sectors in the past years.”

According to Reuters, this will be no small feat — the distribution of oil revenue to client groups has been what has held the country’s economy and society together, even more so than conservative religion. Almost three-quarters of the government’s budget, especially defense, comes from oil revenues. The new plans would tear up the preexisting social contract between the ruling al Saud and the kingdom’s population, which is, needless to say, very risky, according to Reuters.

The strategy involves the development of other sectors such as mining, manufacturing, retail, tourism, pilgrimage

and healthcare. Prince Mohammed is looking to reimagine the country as a logistic hub for East-West trade and as a center for financial services, defense manufacturing and smallto-medium-sized enterprises. This would involve Saudi Arabia selling shares in Aramco and building a $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund. The plans also included changes that push for women to have a bigger economic role and that offer green cards to foreign Arabs and Muslims. While the prince claims that improvements in government efficiency and restructuring are key to attaining this goal, Reuters is one of many critics contending that the prince is being naïve in thinking it would be this simple.

John Kemp, a Reuters market analyst, said that “true diversification requires developing industries which have nothing to do with the extraction of oil and spending of oil-related revenue.” In other words, while pilgrimage may work, the proposed transformation into a center for finance, logistics and manufacturing would be incredibly difficult. Kemp advised that Saudi Arabia’s rulers must first make their country more attractive to outside companies so they can be able to compete with other simpler alternatives like the United Arab Emirates. The Economist suggested that in order to attract investment, the government should create a more trustworthy image; they should clarify the privatization plans for their utilities and show how they can balance their books.

page 10 The Signal May 4, 2016

Editorial

Students at the College perpetuate defeatist mindset

What do your honor society and club memberships, 3.5 or above GPA and internships all have in common? They are not good enough — or at least that is what you tell yourself. As I end my third year at the College, I have become increasingly aware of the defeatist attitude that plagues many of the students here. We tell ourselves that a “B+” in a class is not going to cut it and that it will ruin any chance of landing a spot on the Dean’s List. You can feel the judgement radiating from your peers — which you internalize — as you get back a test with anything less than an “A.” However, the attitude that we as individuals, and as a campus, perpetuate is absurd and needs to be put in perspective. While good grades are important, they are not everything. They are not worth harming your mental or physical health, social life or happiness.

This mindset extends past just grades and drives us to be a part of as many clubs as possible, as well as leading as many of them as possible. Although being a part of extracurricular activities is good for your résumé, it can cause you to spread yourself too thin.

Join clubs, but only those that will aid in your personal growth through things like friendship, skill building or networking. Clubs are meaningless unless you grow from being a part of them.

Beyond grades and clubs, we push ourselves to participate in as many research projects, internships and competitions as possible because we do not feel that just one opportunity is enough.

As invaluable as these experiences are, there is a certain point when you can turn down an out-of-classroom experience or stop actively seeking one out. There is more to life than earning an award or having the most experience with something. While these things are good, they do not define your current or future success.

If you have given your time at the College your all through classes, internship experiences, clubs, jobs, etc., then it is perfectly acceptable to take a lighter course load one semester or drop all of your responsibilities for a summer. Whether you are heading into next semester or the real world, be sure not to get down on yourself about not being the best in your major or graduating class. While I commend the vast majority of the students at the College for caring about their careers above everything else, it would be even more impressive if we all could learn how to maintain a healthy balance between work and our personal lives.

— Chelsea LoCascio News Editor

Editorial Content Unsigned editorial opinions are those of the Editorial Board, which consists of the Editor-in-Chief, the Managing, News, Features, Arts & Entertainment, Opinions, Photo, Sports, Review and Social Media editors and the Business and Production managers, unless otherwise noted.

Opinions expressed in signed editorials and letters to the editor are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Signal.

AP Photo

Many students at the College do not believe that they are successful unless they are president of multiple club or have 4.0 GPA, among other unrealistic expectations.

Correction tcnjsignal.net Email: signal@tcnj.edu Telephone: Production Room (609) 771-2424 Business Office (609) 771-2499 Ad Email: signalad@tcnj.edu

Editorial Staff Colleen Murphy Editor-in-Chief murphc16@tcnj.edu Sydney Shaw Managing Editor shaws4@tcnj.edu Ellie Schuckman Chelsea LoCascio News Editors schucke1@tcnj.edu locascc1@tcnj.edu Michael Battista Jessica Ganga Sports Editors battism3@tcnj.edu gangaj1@tcnj.edu Elise Schoening Features Editor schoene1@tcnj.edu Kimberly Ilkowski Arts & Entertainment Editor ilkowsk1@tcnj.edu Thomas Ballard Opinions Editor ballart1@tcnj.edu Kim Iannarone Photo Editor iannark1@tcnj.edu

Mailing Address: The Signal c/o Forcina Hall The College of New Jersey P.O. Box 7718 Ewing, NJ 08628-0718 Jennifer Goetz Nation & World Editor goetzj1@tcnj.edu Jackie Delaney Review Editor delanej2@tcnj.edu Sean Reis Production Manager reiss2@tcnj.edu Alyssa Sanford Web Editor sanfora1@tcnj.edu Andrew Street Connor Smith Social Media Editors streeta1@tcnj.edu smithc57@tcnj.edu

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In an article published in last week’s issue titled “Georgetown seeks to make amends for past,” it was mistakenly reported that the anniversary of a major slave trade was on Saturday, April 16.

The actual date of the trade was in the fall of 1838.

Quotes of the Week “We really need to get the word out to students. That’s the best way to counter the skepticism that students have in whether the (evaluations) matter.”

— Jacqueline Taylor, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs

“I’ve had the opportunity to help develop programs that connect to the community... with important issues of social justice and entrepreneurship.

— John Laughton, dean of the School of Arts and Communication

May 4, 2016 The Signal page 11

Opinions

College should allow alcohol at tailgates

Changes would increase attendance at events

By Craig Dietel Tailgates are a staple in college life on campuses across the country.

By not allowing students to take part in the age-old tradition of college tailgates, the College fails to give its students an authentic experience.

On Saturday, April 23, Student Government, with the Office of Student Affairs, finally hosted a tailgate for a varsity baseball game. Students of all ages and organizations were encouraged to attend. However, there was one condition: no alcohol.

Alcohol is certainly not needed to have a good time, but by not allowing students, who are of the legal drinking age, the chance to enjoy an alcoholic beverage isn’t fair. Imposing a limit on how much alcohol a person can bring to the tailgate would be a fairer solution.

Not allowing alcohol at a tailgate will deter those who are of age from actually attending the tailgate in the first place. The purpose of a tailgate is to bring about school spirit and get people

excited to support their school and its teams. By not allowing alcohol at these tailgates, the College is not giving their alumni a reason to come back either. If Homecoming became a dry, non-alcoholic event, it’s almost certain that the number of alumni returning would diminish, so it stands to reason that if tailgates were consistent and alcohol was permitted, the College might see an influx of alumni returning regularly to partake in these events.

Many of my friends and fellow students also agree that allowing alcohol — even a restricted amount — to these tailgates would increase the amount of students and alumni who attend these games and support the teams.

It’s no secret that alcohol has the potential to cause issues in this situation, but it will cause more good than harm. The arguments from the College’s administrators who favor banning alcohol from these tailgates are within reason — they don’t want underage students

drinking, students getting sent to the hospital in alcohol-related emergencies or vandalism. Since the College is prohibiting drinking at these smaller tailgates, they are going to receive the stigma of being lame and boring. Free food can entice a number of people, but once they get their free food, they might not even stay for the game.

The main fear of having alcohol at tailgates comes from Homecoming each year. However, if the school had weekly tailgates with alcohol at all of the different sporting events, it would get students accustomed to that setting and most likely offset the number of transports at larger tailgates, such as Homecoming.

Being such a high-profile event, Homecoming often causes students to drink in excess and become belligerent. If smaller scale tailgates occurred throughout the year, students would be more prone to behave at Homecoming.

I’m not asking the College to let us have a keg tapped in Lot 5 before every sporting event.

Photo courtesy of Tim Lee

College students enjoy the Homecoming tailgate with friends.

However, I’m asking the College to let students, who are 21 or older, exercise their rights to have the legal limit of alcohol at a tailgate.

The fact that the College endorses a tailgate of some

kind already indicates that the administration is taking a step in the right direction. Now it’s time for the administration to place some trust in the students at the College by allowing them to bring alcohol to these events.

Trusting your gut: intuition or nonsense?

By Roman Orsini Has anyone ever told you to trust your gut? To many, this advice can sound like whimsical nonsense with no basis in science or reason. If we were to put all of our trust in what our gut has to say, it seems as though we would be busier consuming food than making rational choices. Yet a growing body of research suggests that our gut instincts deserve some real attention as we navigate through the critical decisions and actions life requires.

Try to imagine instances in your life during which you felt an indescribable feeling

that something was about to go wrong. Was there a voice inside telling you to act (or not act), even though your conscious self saw no urgent need?

Maybe you’re at a party on a Friday night when you get such a feeling. You abruptly decide to call it an early night, only to find out later that shortly after you left, the police arrived to break up the festivities.

Conversely, have you ever had a nagging feeling that you should go out on a Friday night, even though you’re dead tired from a busy week? So you drag yourself out to a party, or spend time with a group you are less acquainted with, and end up meeting a lovely

Students should trust their intuition when making decisions.

AP Photo

romantic interest?

Maybe you randomly think about someone you know, but haven’t seen in awhile, only to encounter that person unexpectedly a few days later. Maybe you meet someone for the first time and they seem kind, but afterwards, you feel physical stress and a certain unease when you reflect on the encounter.

These are all instances of your gut trying to tell you something of which your brain is unaware. In the field of psychology, the gut feeling may be referred to as intuition, or the potential to perceive truth and gain knowledge about your environment without applying direct inference or reasoning.

Simply put, intuition is what we didn’t know we knew.

Although the field of psychology remains unsure of how to classify the intuitive process and no concrete definitions exist for it, the College’s psychology Department Chair and Professor Jeanine Vivona has some ideas.

“Intuition is not something that is disconnected from a person’s meaningmaking mind,” Vivona said. “Instead, what gives intuition its unique feeling, similar to déjà vu, perhaps, is that we don’t know why we have this intuition about something. We don’t know where the gut feeling or hunch or intuition comes from.

So the processes underlying intuition are those that involve other kinds of thinking, as well as emotional processes.”

Some researchers suggest that gut feelings

are compilations of one’s life experiences assembled unconsciously, but readily available to draw on in real-life situations. “(Intuition is) this unconscious-conscious learned experience center that you can draw on from your years of being alive,” said Melody Wilding, a human behavior professor at Hunter College, according to ballastpoint.com, a business advice Website.

“It holds insights that aren’t immediately available to your conscious mind right now, but they’re all things that you’ve learned and felt. In the moment, we might not be readily able to access specific information, but our gut has it at the ready.”

Some people may think of themselves as naturally intuitive or logical thinkers, as if their thought processes must be on opposite sides of a spectrum. But in reality, we all possess intuition. What varies between people is the degree to which we are willing to listen and follow our intuitive side.

Wherever it may pop up, we should all strive to at least consider our intuition so we may allow the fullest range of our faculties to guide our actions. Given the mysterious nature of intuition, gut feelings may unsettle us because we are hesitant to follow behaviors we can’t explain.

However, we should all learn to trust ourselves and our instincts — or at the very least until cognitive science can explain our gut feelings more precisely.

Policies The Signal is published weekly during the academic year and is financed by the Student Activities Fee (SAF) and advertising revenue. Any student may submit articles to The Signal. Publication of submitted articles is at the discretion of the editors.

The letters section is an open forum for opinions. Submissions that announce events or advertise in any way will not be printed. All letters should be sent via e-mail to signal@tcnj.edu. Handwritten letters should be sent to The Signal, c/o The Brower Student Center, The College of New Jersey, PO Box 7718 Ewing, N.J. 08628 or placed in our mailbox in the Student Life Office.

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The Signal willingly corrects factual mistakes. If you think we have made an error, please contact The Signal at (609) 771-2424, write to the address listed above or e-mail us at signal@tcnj.edu.

page 12 The Signal May 4, 2016

May 4, 2016 The Signal page 13

Freshman year is an invaluable learning experience

Photo courtesy of Brendan McGrath

tcnj.edu

Left: Most students at the College live in Travers and Wolfe halls. Right: The stress of freshman year often brings students straight to the library.

By Danielle Silva While many claim that freshman year of College can be one of the best years of your life, others, like myself, saw the year as one giant transition. This past year has taught me so much about life and the changes that occur, all of which have brought me another step closer to the fringes of adulthood. Overall, my freshman year at the College is a monumental step toward adulthood due to the various life lessons I learned along the way.

Moving into college may seem scary at first, especially since the typical college freshman does not know many people besides their roommate. They will be introduced to all types of people from various cultures and backgrounds, and

this ultimately will allow them to gain more insight into the world.

From the start of the semester, leaving home and transitioning to a completely new environment is very difficult, mostly because it is out of one’s comfort zone.

By trying new things, though, despite a low level of comfort, freshmen are able to use their first year of college as a step toward independence.

Freshman year is a vital experience because it provides students with the opportunity to get involved in clubs and organizations that allow them to express themselves and make friends. College is one of the first opportunities in many people’s lives to meet all types of people and encounter various situations, affording them the chance to create their own

thoughts and values.

As a freshman, the first few times I visited home made me feel like a stranger in my own bed. People would ask me how school was going and I felt urged to tell them, “It’s great,” but in reality, it was the first time in my life that I felt out of place.

This feeling teaches freshmen how to have patience. Learning how to deal with uncomfortable situations is a key skill to have, along with developing persistence and perseverance — traits that can conquer any type of adversity in life.

When the Spring semester arrived, things got better for many freshmen.

Even though they may constantly look back on the last year and see how much has changed, finals will quickly come up, bringing a close to their first year

of college. A college workload is more intense than high school and at times, can be stressful. Learning time management skills to equally distribute study sessions and study breaks is a key skill for the workforce and life in general.

Throughout life, everyone will have the chance to close doors and open new ones, and during these life transitions, there will be challenges to overcome. Whether one commutes or lives at college, freshmen in particular will face situations beyond imagination. But by overcoming these challenges, freshmen learn to foster many new skills and life lessons. One can grow into a new person and be able to someday become an active member of society and make contributions that will change the world for the better.

Supporting the Mets makes Seinfeld funnier

By Jake Mulick

“If you know what happened in the (New York) Mets game, don’t say anything, I taped it, hello.”

This is how Jerry Seinfeld introduced his love for the Mets in the fourth episode of what a 60 Minute/Vanity Fair poll called the most successful sitcom in human history: “Seinfeld.” Seinfeld is, both in the show and in real life, a massive Mets fan, having been photographed at a myriad of games and has even been rumored to have interest in owning part of the team, according to the New York Times.

I believe that part of Seinfeld’s persona is intrinsically linked with the Mets and he would not be as funny or, consequently, successful, if he were not a Mets fan.

The Mets are traditionally a lackluster team, not doing much more than existing under the New York Yankees’ shadow.

From 1989 to 1999 (the years “Seinfeld” was on the air), the New York Mets cumulative record was 680-862, a deplorable showing from a team in a city that also has the Yankees, the team with the best record in baseball history, according to mlb.com.

Not to mention the disappointing caliber of baseball the Mets play in order to infer that Seinfeld is a loser by any means, I would have to say he is the exact opposite.

Seinfeld is worth almost a billion dollars, making him the second richest actor of all time, according to www.thesquander.com. I say this because had Seinfeld been a Yankees fan, he would have been completely unbearable.

It is easy to deal with the misadventures that the characters in “Seinfeld” partake in every episode because for some reason, they are able to almost pass themselves off as a loveable group of losers.

All are single, flirting with vague employment for the duration of the show, (save Jerry, but let’s face it — a stand-up comedian is hardly a reliable career), living in the greatest city in the world, but having difficulty tolerating it, let alone conquering it.

The Mets are the perfect metaphor for these people. While this is true, the characters in the show keep plugging along, managing life to an extent and battling their conditions. The Mets, too, keep trucking on, despite being railed with disappointing results for multiple years in a row and constantly being reminded of what success is from just one borough over.

The Yankees, on the other hand, represent perennial success.

Every year they don’t make the playoffs can be seen as a massive failure, and they expend copious amounts of money in

order to ensure they are always a contender. If Seinfeld was a fan of the greatest baseball team of all time, the Yankees (yeah, I said it), I think the perception of himself for the duration of his tenure on the air would shift dramatically.

I think viewers would overlook the loveable loser persona that Larry David attempts to pass off and instead focus on the fact that these characters kind of have most things going for them.

The characters on the show don’t experience real strife

— after all, they live in a phenomenal city and are able to clothe and feed themselves.

The Yankees’s problems are trivial, too, to an extent. Not winning the World Series every year is certainly a concern for any sports organization, but it would be almost absurd to expect to do so year-in and year-out.

The Mets faced real problems including decreasing ballpark attendance, not making it into the playoffs throughout the

entire decade that Seinfeld was on the air, not to mention Bernie Madoff syphoning off millions and millions of dollars the entire time, according to Forbes and baseballreference. com. Fortunately, the Mets have been able to fall into greater fortunes and have turned around their team just in time for Seinfeld to retire and start another show about nothing, while driving around his cars that most of us can only dream of affording.

Seinfeld throws the opening pitch for the Mets at Fenway Park.

AP Photo

page 14 The Signal May 4, 2016

Students share opinions around campus Should tailgates allow alcohol?

Should people “trust their gut?”

“Yeah... Usually your first thought is your best thought.”

“I think that it would (be a) benefit... (If) people want alcohol, it would find its way in.”

Tom Ballard / Opinions Editor

Tori Ray, senior special education and English double major.

Tom Ballard / Opinions Editor

Arun Madar, junior biology major.

“It tends to be right...

If you have a bad feeling about something, you should probably not do it.”

“Yes, but I would say that they should have some strict regulations.”

Tom Ballard / Opinions Editor

Tom Ballard / Opinions Editor

Natalie Nunez, sophomore sociology major.

Katie Bellissimo, junior biology major.

The Signal asks...

Do you study for finals?

Tori: “Yes... Of course I do. I feel like you have to. Throughout one semester, you learn so much information.”

Katie: “Yeah... because there’s no way I could pass any of my classes if I didn’t.”

Arun: “Yes... because I want to do well.”

Natalie: “Yeah... I make a list of all the topics we’ve gone over in class.”

Students find it difficult to study for finals with distractions.

Rob Birnbohm / Cartoonist

May 4, 2016 The Signal page 15

Features

Association brings African culture to campus

Photos courtesy of Raya Brashear-Evans

Left: The ASFA dance team gives a performance at its annual event. Right: Zuzu Acrobats Inc. makes a special appearance.

By Ashley Thomas Staff Writer

The College’s Association of Students For Africa (ASFA) is bringing culture, food and buoyancy to a campus with diversity on the rise. The association was started in 2014 by five friends who hoped to bring a piece of home to campus for students who couldn’t find it elsewhere.

“It created a home away from home for many of us,” senior business management major and Event Coordinator Esther Osei said. “It created a space for many students who come across the continent of Africa to share their experiences.”

As hard as college can be, having a place where students can

feel understood by their peers can make the road to success that much easier. According to Osei, ASFA is able to help bridge the gap for struggling students.

“I got involved with ASFA because of the family-based atmosphere the club showcases,” sophomore chemistry major and ASFA Public Relations Officiant Oreoluwa Nubi said. “I come from an African home, and seeing this club on campus made me feel like I was at home and super comfortable.”

The organization currently has 46 active members and puts on a number of programs throughout the year.

“For students who aren’t African, it (gives) them a platform to learn about our experience and, at

times, the similarities resonated with their culture,” Osei said.

ASFA events serve as large social functions where students are given the opportunity to learn about African culture from their peers. Events like Africa’s Best Dance Crew and the annual Akwaaba banquet are anchored in bringing the college community together, as well as spreading positivity throughout campus.

The second annual Akwaaba banquet was held this year on Saturday, April 23. The Decker Social Space was packed with students and faculty that night, most of whom fully adhered to the dressto-impress policy and were eager to see what ASFA had planned for this year.

Judging by the number of people dancing, the organization did not disappoint. Performers donned traditional African garb, which they showed off in the event’s Best Dressed Runway Show.

The five-hour event included music, spoken word poetry and keynote speakers. The ASFA dance team gave a bold performance that landed them a standing ovation from the crowd. A chairclimbing guest performance by the Zuzu Acrobats Inc. troupe from Kirkland, Wash., only added to the overall liveliness of the night.

“This event serves as our welcoming platform to the entire TCNJ community,” Osei said.

“We are extending ourselves and saying, ‘Come get to know us and

the culture we love.’”

Events like Akwaaba are just a slice of what ASFA brings to the College. According to Orsei, the organization’s mission is to increase awareness of African culture and help diversify the campus environment.

“I really want this organization to make strides in continuing to break down stereotypes and help others celebrate and enjoy the African culture,” Nubi said.

Akwaaba means “welcome” in the West African country of Ghana, according to Nubi. By naming its annual banquet after the word, ASFA hopes to emphasize to students one of the organization’s main points — that all are welcome to join.

Upcoming textbook app serves student needs

By Colleen Murphy Editor-in-Chief

Sophomore Neo Zambas said he spent $900 on textbooks for four classes this semester. Two semesters ago, the marketing major spent nearly $300 on a single book. He has been unable to find a buyer for the book or sell it back, and so it continues to sit in his house.

Zambas’s situation is a common occurrence on college campuses, and with the end of the semester approaching and the summer semester starting, many students will once again find themselves having to deal with the process of buying and selling textbooks. This has become a lucrative business for textbook publishers. According to an Aug. 6, 2015, article from NBC News, textbook prices have risen 1,041 percent since 1977 — three times the rate of inflation. That same article estimated that college students spent an average of $1,225 on books and supplies last year.

After experiencing the monetary strain of the textbook market first-hand, Zambas knew something needed to be done in order to make textbooks more affordable and to make the process of buying

Photo courtesy of NeoBook

NeoBook will connect students with peers who are looking to sell their textbooks. and selling them easier. And so, he partnered with his friend, senior marketing major Agy Serghiou.

Together, the two launched the business NeoBook.

“Neo pitched the idea to me back in, I want to say late October, and at first, I thought there was something that already existed — there had to be some sort of mobile app platform that connects students

so they can buy and sell textbooks from each other,” Serghiou said.

“And after doing research of how much of a problem textbook prices are and doing research on potential competitors — after we saw there were no major mobile app platforms that solved such a big and evident problem — we said, ‘Let’s go for it.’”

As soon as the Neobook app

becomes available, the business partners hope to launch it on all major app markets. Students will be able to download the app for free and then plug their school’s name, as well as their course list, into the app. This creates a book wish list for each app user. As soon as a seller on campus, or within a five-mile radius, lists your needed books on the NeoFeed — where

all for-sale textbooks can be viewed — you will receive a push notification on your phone, according to Serghiou.

If the buyer is interested in purchasing the book, the student can either buy it for the price the seller originally requested or they can make another offer. Once the buyer and seller agree to a dollar amount, they are given chat box access within the app and are able to discuss a time and place to meet and exchange the book, Serghiou said. The buyer and seller have to confirm with NeoBook that the exchange was completed, and the buyer then has the opportunity to rate the seller out of five stars.

All monetary transactions are completed within the app. This way, students do not have to carry cash with them when meeting with the seller and NeoBook has greater control over where the money goes in case a reimbursement is needed, Serghiou said.

Additionally, all items with an ISBN, including test preparation books, can be bought and sold on NeoBook. A seller simply needs to take a picture of the ISBN to have see TEXTBOOK page 18

page 16 The Signal May 4, 2016

TCNJ Business Institute for Non-Business Majors Summer 2016

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May 4, 2016 The Signal page 17

: Sept. ‘08

Campus Style

Pulitzer winner talks drinking age

Report party in a neck-tie dress, blue velvet heels and cat eye sunglasses. Commenting on her Coachella style, Roberts told Women’s Wear Daily that she was abandoning fringe for an “ethereal-baby-doll” look. If you’re feeling inspired, play up the accessories and accentuate your ensemble with a thin necktie or funky blue wedges.

Elise Schoening / Features Editor

Pulitzer winner Queally covers the drinking age debate back in 2008.

Every week, Features Editor Elise Schoening hits the archives and finds old Signals that relate to current College topics and top stories.

Last week, The Signal reported that College alumnus James Queally (’09) was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the San Bernardino, Calif., shooting in December 2015. Queally served as a sports editor and arts & entertainment editor for The Signal and wrote a front-page piece in 2008 on the heated discussion of raising the drinking age on college campuses.

It may be time to rethink the drinking age.

At least that’s what more than 100 college presidents are saying by signing a statement sponsored by the Amethyst Initiative, a national alcohol awareness group dedicated to sparking a new debate about the minimum drinking age College President R. Barbara Gitenstein said she is open to debate on the issue, but as of now has no reason to support changing the legal drinking age from 21 to 18.

“With regard to the discussion currently in the media... I have seen no convincing evidence to support such a change,” Gitenstein said.

Gitenstein added that she will wait for the reports of several other College officials, including the findings of the College’s Alcohol Commission, chaired by Mark Woodford, before commenting on the specific actions of

the Initiative.

“We have been having this conversation at (the College) over the last couple of years,” Gitenstein said in an email.

She added, “I think it is absolutely essential that we have intensive discussions about how best to address the abuse of alcohol among young adults, particularly those aged 18 to 20.

Other officials of the College were quick to admit the need for a discussion but, unlike Gitenstein, declined to comment on the issue of 18 versus 21.

“I do support suggesting we need communication and discussion,” Joe Hadge, coordinator of the Alcohol and Drug Education Program (ADEP) at the College, said.

“My concern is that it seems to be presented as an either/or, 18 or 21, and then they take sides,” Hadge said. “As we know through the history of alcohol, it’s just not that simple of a topic,” he said.

Meanwhile, three New Jersey college presidents have signed their names to the Initiative’s declaration since June.

Drew University President Robert Weisbuch led the charge on June 25.

Presidents from Montclair University and Stevens Institute of Technology followed suit in late August.

Celebritease

With finals around the corner, getting away from school seems to be at the forefront of every student’s mind. But for First Daughter Malia Obama, deciding where to go to school was her top priority this week. It was announced on Sunday, May 1, that the oldest Obama daughter will attend Harvard University in Fall 2017 after taking a gap year. Both of her parents attended Harvard Law School.

As Malia gears up for her upcoming 18th birthday, England’s

By Jordan Koziol Columnist

Despite what the Snapchat filter has led us to believe, there’s a lot more to Coachella style than the iconic (if not cliché) flower crown. The extravaganza, held annually in Indio, Calif., serves as both a music festival and fashion show, as thousands of concertgoers hit the desert in their carefree Sunday best. Below is your unofficial guide to recreating Coachella styles like a pro.

While crochet, fringe and neon may be frowned upon at your summer internship, Coachella provides incredible weekendstyle inspo. Whether you prefer a bohemian, classic or sporty look, this year’s festival offered dozens of carefree looks perfect for the beach, bonfire, concert and more. Add a few modifications, a touch of personality and you’re ready to go.

• The Kaia Gerber: While it may have been her first rodeo, Cindy Crawford’s 14-year-old daughter came styled like a seasoned Coachella veteran. Pairing a crisp white romper and blush duster coat with nude booties and boho-chic accessories, Gerber was a serious contender for best dressed. If there’s one takeaway from her simple yet striking get-up, it’s the color of her sheer wrap: soft, blush pink that has been dubbed the official color of the season.

• The Emma Roberts: Swapping her pearls and fur for festival attire, the star of FOX’s “Scream Queens” attended the Zoe

Twitter.com

Goulding’s style is sporty-chic.

: Harvard legacy continues

Malia Obama will follow in her parents’ footsteps.

By Mackenzie Cutruzzula Columnist

Flickr.com

Celebs take over Coachella.

• The Ellie Goulding: Capitalizing on the athleisure trend, Goulding, who performed at the main stage, spent her downtime in a sporty-chic combo. The singer paired a peach and lilac windbreaker with a white shirt, metallic silver shorts and white sneakers. The best part of her look? How simple it is to recreate these pieces with your own wardrobe and a quick trip to Forever 21.

AP Photo

favorite princess Charlotte is on the brink of her first birthday. In anticipation for the birthday celebration on Tuesday, May 2, the royals released new photos of the princess.

Taken by Duchess Kate Middleton, the four released photos feature Charlotte running through a meadow while laughing and looking allaround adorable. Like her mother, the princess has darker hair, contrast to her older brother, George.

Her stunning blue eyes are big and memorizing as she poses for the pictures with a blue bow in her hair.

Like mother, like daughter — Middleton had a photo of herself

released on Sunday, May 2, with the announcement that she will be the featured in British Vogue’s June 2016 issue. The photos will be part of a series celebrating 100 years of the magazine in a partnership with the British National Portrait Gallery. The photos of the duchess will feature her appearing in informal wear and reflect her love for the countryside.

The duchess just finished celebrating her fifth wedding anniversary with Prince William on Friday, April 29. Kelly Ripa also celebrated a milestone wedding anniversary over the weekend. The actress posted a sweet picture to Instagram to highlight her 20 years with husband Mark Consuelos. Ripa even said she recently tried on her wedding dress to prove it still fits.

The celebrations come after a rough patch for Ripa, who appeared to be blindsided by Michael Strahan’s decision to leave their morning talk show for a full-time position at “Good Morning America.” While Ripa reminisces about the journey to find her husband, she is gearing up to start the process of finding a new co-host. Much like when she

found Strahan, the network plans to rotate its hosts until there is a fit.

Justin Bieber continued to make changes in his life, debuting a new haircut via Instagram on Friday, April 29. The singer switched styles from dreadlocks to a shaved head, which surprised fans and sparked the Twitter hashtag #RIPJustinHair. Bieber sported the new look at his father’s engagement party in Toronto, where he also posed for a picture with a Bengal tiger.

Selena Gomez had a hot date for the Met Gala on Monday,

May 2, which featured the theme Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology. Gomez joined her best friend and event co-chair, Taylor Swift, on the red carpet.

Swift didn’t appear with boyfriend Calvin Harris, but is continuing her girl squad trend. Gomez and Swift attended the Grammy’s together and ever since, they have been raising the bar for friendship goals. With the end of the semester nearing, be sure to keep your friends close and plan for a summer that is A-lister worthy.

Princess Charlotte celebrates her first birthday.

Twitter.com

page 18 The Signal May 4, 2016

Textbook / Students team up to create app

Potential buyers can place bids on required textbooks. continued from page 15

the book’s information logged in the app, Zambas said.

“I think the beauty of our app is… before, (students) would be sitting on worthless textbooks, so now the app creates value for them because it connects them to potential buyers,” Serghiou said.

“They are able to sell back the books that they originally bought for around... probably the same price, buy the books again, hopefully for a low price, and continuing the process all the way up until they’re a senior. They can, in a perfect world, spend

virtually nothing on textbooks.

“Our mission is to aid the necessary evil of buying and selling back textbooks… By connecting students so they can buy and sell with each other, they can just reduce their cost immensely,” Serghiou said. “It’s getting to a point where students are just opting out of buying a textbook entirely. They’re willing to risk not performing up to par in the class to save money, and that’s a shame.

That shouldn’t be how a college student should feel. They should have an affordable textbook for them so they can optimize their performance in the class.”

Photo courtesy of NeoBook

According to the same NBC News article, 65 percent of college students have decided not to buy a textbook because of its high price. NeoBook hopes to be the tool that keeps the process of buying and selling textbooks affordable so that students can make the most of their learning experience.

“We’re solving a problem, an evident problem,” Serghiou said.

Zambas and Serghiou plan to launch their business, which is registered as an LLC with the state, not only at the College, but also at 10 other four-year schools — including Rutgers and Pennsylvania State universities — and

about 15 community colleges.

When this app will become available is dependent on when NeoBook can garner the right amount of start-up capital. On Wednesday, May 25, Zambas and Serghiou are meeting with five investors, who they hope will get them the money needed to actually launch the NeoBook application. If they are successful with the investors, they hope to have their business available for students by Spring 2017, according to Zambas.

While NeoBook does have competition with other textbook buying and selling companies, such as Amazon, Zambas is confident that the convenience of the app — students can buy and retrieve the textbook from the seller in the same day without any shipping and handling fees — will set the pair’s business apart from the rest.

Zambas also pointed out that while students on campus are already attempting to buy and sell textbooks through Facebook, students can’t search for the book they need in Facebook groups like they can on NeoBook.

“We actually want to solve the problem,” Zambas said. “Believe me, I always tell Agy that I don’t care about the money. I’ll care about the money in the future. First, worry about making an app that’s useful for students,

and then benefits will come after.

NeoBook has been... my priority since we started… It’s important to me.”

Serghiou shares the same passion for the business, saying that each day he wakes up, NeoBook is the first thing that comes to mind, and that the venture has given him “so much happiness and excitement.”

The two entered this year’s Mayo Business Plan Competition and reached the semi-finals. Since then, they’ve made changes to improve their business, including hiring alumna Taylor Huizenga (’15) as their graphic designer.

And while they say they have faced “a lot of hardship while starting” NeoBook, their Greek heritage — both men’s families are from Cyprus — has definitely given them the spirit to continue on.

“A lot of people have doubted us, but I guess it’s really just pushing through the adversity — I don’t know. If you’re Greek, it’s kind of just something you’re born with, for sure,” Serghiou said.

Serghiou also said that he hopes NeoBook can inspire others to become entrepreneurs.

“I want to show students if they have an idea that solves a problem… there’s no reason they shouldn’t go and pursue it…

We’re so proud that we’ve taken our idea this far,” Serghiou said.

Love Your Melon supports cancer patients

Left: Distefano shows Mclaughlin the wonders of science. Right: The crew members dress as superheroes for the special day.

By Rachel Ralston Correspondent The cold rain that washed over campus on Thursday, April 28, left many students bundled up and groggy. But one person didn’t let the gloomy weather get him down — Nico Mclaughlin. Instead, he ran up to the counter at Piccolo Pronto with a wide smile on his face and a white lab coat that said “Future Scientist” on the name tag. On top of his head was a bright red knit hat.

The 4-year-old is currently battling a rare autoimmune disorder known as Evans Syndrome. On Thursday, Mclaughlin and his family visited the College for Superhero Day, hosted by the College’s Love Your Melon (LYM) crew.

LYM is a student-run apparel brand that raises awareness for children fighting cancer. It was founded in St. Paul, Minn., by college students Zachary Quinn and Brian Keller, both of whom were determined to

help improve the lives of these kids.

The pair is now in charge of LYM crews at 736 educational institutions, according to their Website. LYM crews across the nation sell T-shirts, baseball caps and even scarves, but the signature product for the brand is their knit beanies. The company’s mission is to put a hat on the head of every child battling cancer.

For each hat sold, another is donated to a childhood cancer patient.

In September 2015, junior art education major Emily Vogel founded a LYM crew at the College. Vogel serves as the crew’s captain and has worked hard to sell LYM apparel to her peers and raise awareness for the organization over the past year. On Thursday, she dressed up in a Batman costume with an LYM beanie that matched Mclaughlin’s.

“I was inspired to start (an LYM crew) because a friend of mine joined a crew at his school, and that was how I heard of it,” Vogel said. “I read the mission and thought

it was awesome. It’s amazing how fast it grew because at the end of the year, there was a huge spike in the number of college crews. I’m glad I started one here when I had the opportunity to because now, in our region, it’s really popular.”

LYM co-Captain Julia McKinnies, a junior special education and English double major, dressed as Superman for the special day. Sporting a red cape and beanie, McKinnies smiled and laughed with Mclaughlin and the other LYM crew members as they ate together at Piccolo Pronto. McKinnies even decorated the restaurant chairs with smiley face balloons tied to the back, just for the young boy.

“Having the opportunity to meet a little guy like Nico and get the chance to make him smile is my favorite thing about being on the crew,” McKinnies said. “To get the chance to do something that they love for them, I think it’s awesome.”

After they finished eating, the crew headed to the Science Complex to fulfill

Photos courtesy of Emily Vogel

Mclaughlin’s dream of being a scientist.

Upon arriving, Mclaughlin was greeted by junior biology major Izzy Distefano, who wore a lab coat just like his. Distefano took him on a tour of the Biology Building before the crew set up a station where he could conduct some science experiments.

According to Vogel, the College’s LYM crew organized the day’s activities so that Mclaughlin could catch a glimpse of a day in the life of a student studying the sciences, which he hopes to do one day. For Vogel, LYM is about giving young cancer patients moments of beauty throughout their childhoods, which should be carefree, but sadly, cannot be.

“Today was so magical,” Vogel said, her face lighting up. “Someone he was close with passed recently, and how do you handle that when you’re so young? It’s interesting for me to see his perspective. He’s still so young and says he wants to go to school for science to find a cure for ‘All of the world so that no one gets sick ever again.’”

May 4, 2016 The Signal page 19

Arts & Entertainment

Synergy’s Spectacular dazzles spectators

Left: Synergy shows flexibility during rehearsal. Right: The dance company dedicates hours of practice to perfect timing.

By Caleigh Carlson Correspondent

“Sit back, relax and enjoy what Synergy Dance Company has in store.”

These words echoed from backstage to the seats in Kendall Hall as audience members began to make themselves comfortable on Sunday, April 24. The spectators recognized that they were about to witness the Synergy Dance Company’s 16th Annual Spring Spectacular at the College. Aside from that, they had little knowledge of the wonderful dance performance they were about to experience.

The recital opened with a dance choreographed by the seniors of the company. As the girls strutted their stuff to “Fame” by Lady Gaga, they showcased some of

their best moves. Every arabesque was pointed and every dance member was in sync. With each dance, the technique became more apparent. There were a few additional dances that were choreographed by the seniors on the team, whose commitment to Synergy was fully demonstrated during the show.

Senior sociology major Alyssa Scull was one of the seniors who spoke about her role as an upperclassman. When asked how being a part of the Synergy Dance Company has affected her time at the College, Scull tried to hold back tears. Her expression was a reflection of the senior members’ dedication to the team as a whole.

“Sorry if I get emotional,” Scull said. “I joined the Synergy Dance Company my sophomore year and it introduced me to some

of my best friends. It’s so nice to have an outlet that allows you to de-stress and be surrounded by some of your favorite people.”

Scull was one of the production managers on the team. The Spring Spectacular would not have been possible without the work of her and her fellow Production Manager Teagan Nurnenberg, a sophomore deaf education and mathematics double major.

As if that was not be enough to keep Nurnenberg busy, she has also been an essential part of the Synergy Dance Company.

“It’s really wonderful because everyone is so supportive,” Nurnenberg said. “We dance because we truly love it, and that is what makes it so enjoyable.”

The Spring Spectacular offered a variation in both the styles of

dance and choices of music. The songs ranged from classics, like “I Put a Spell on You,” to contemporary pieces by Sam Smith and Justin Bieber. The dance styles included modern, ballet, hip-hop and tap. This diversity led to much satisfaction from the audience, keeping them curious about what they may see next. It was clear that the company put a lot of thought into the order of the dances — dedication that can be further attributed to the immense preparation they put in for the show.

Junior nursing major and coCaptain of Synergy Dance Company Erin O’Connor spoke about this preparation.

“In the fall semester, we work on strength and technique generally twice a week,” O’Connor said.

“When spring comes around, we

Photos courtesy of Tim Lee

concentrate on preparing for our annual recital, which requires a lot more work. (In the) two weeks before the show, we had rehearsal every night.”

As a captain, she expressed the joy it brings her to choreograph dances for the show.

“I think the most rewarding part about getting to choreograph is seeing my ideas come to life,” O’Connor said. “My dancers are so cooperative and that always makes my job easier.”

The event’s final dance was introduced with a few words from sophomore biology major Anil Salem, who won “TCNJ’s Got Talent” last year.

“As we always say in the Synergy Dance Company,” he said.

“The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”

Weezer’s ‘got a good thing’ with new album

By Thomas Infante Staff Writer It can be difficult to think of the rock band Weezer without remembering the band’s poor track record of previous releases. Weezer’s 1994 debut self-titled album — often referred to as “The Blue Album” — has since been lauded by critics and fans as their favorite, featuring many of the band’s signature songs. The debut album was a huge success, but was followed by the controversial “Pinkerton” two years later. Frontman Rivers Cuomo wrote “Pinkerton” lyrics with much more emotion, making the lyrics very personal, but many critics were put off by the change in style.

Since the disputed album, Cuomo and the band have been trying to find a more mainstream sound with varying degrees of success. After years of steadily declining commercial and critical prominence throughout the 2000s, the band thought the time had arrived to return to its musical roots. Hoping to evoke the same feelings it captured in 1994, Weezer’s 2014 album “Everything Will Be Alright in the End” was a step in the right direction. The band seemed to be continuing down this nostalgic path with its newest self-titled album, nicknamed “The White Album,” with a correspondingly stark white album cover.

To facilitate the band’s sentimental change, producer Jake Sinclair was instrumental in the recent career revivals of bands Fall Out Boy and Panic! at the Disco. The

result was a tight, clean and accessible alternative rock record without compromising the band’s existing charm and personality.

In a Rolling Stone interview from Wednesday, Feb. 24, Cuomo said that he “started watching young surfers at Venice Beach in hopes of finding lyrical inspiration. He even signed up for Tinder – for purely platonic purposes. ‘My wife’s cool with it,’ Cuomo says with a shrug.”

There were times throughout the album when it was evident how much time has passed since Weezer’s golden age, but the 45-year-old Cuomo can sound immature singing the same love-struck, angst-filled lyrics about love and loss that he was singing during his 20s. The lyrical content on this record is more nonsensical and bizarre than any previous album by the band. On the lead single, “Thank God for Girls,” Cuomo sings about his love for women, but the feminine qualities he appreciates are far from traditional, as he sings, “When you come home, she will be there waiting for you with a fire in her eyes and a big, fat cannoli to shove in your mouth.”

Musically, the album was lively, upbeat and refreshingly fun. Songs like “(Girl We Got A) Good Thing” and “King of the World” are empowering and euphoric, with electrifying guitar solos and positive lyrics delivered with more energy than Cuomo has had in years. Another great song is “Jacked Up,” which provides a much more somber tone than the rest of the record, featuring emotional piano against Cuomo’s strained

Weezer’s ‘The White Album’ is filled with emotional energy. falsetto. In a Pitchfork interview from Thursday, Jan. 14, Cuomo stated that the sound of the Beach Boys was a huge influence on this album, which explains the carefree vibe that most of the tracks possess.

Some songs sound very similar to others from Weezer’s first two albums. Songs like “L.A. Girlz” and “Do You Wanna Get High?” are remarkably reminiscent of “Pinkerton” songs, such as “Pink Triangle” and “El Scorcho.” Similarly, the acoustic ballad “Endless Bummer” sounds like the song “Butterfly.” These songs reused similar vocal melodies and chord progressions.

While they are still catchy 20 years later, they lack the freshness that a band’s new material should have.

The notable self-plagiarism of some

AP Photo

songs made it difficult to stand out against Weezer’s earlier material, which was the album’s biggest letdown for hardcore fans.

“The White Album,” however, proved to be a great record for those who are not too familiar with the band’s earlier work. The music was upbeat and fun, which will satisfy both casual listeners and longtime fans of Weezer.

White was the perfect color for this album — it’s consistent with the color’s association with purity and renewal. Weezer seemed to have abandoned its sterile body of work that has plagued the band for so many years and fans can only hope that the band takes advantage of this clean slate until the 2000s era Weezer will be nothing but a distant memory.

page 20 The Signal May 4, 2016

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May 4, 2016 The Signal page 21

The College’s musicians play captivating show

Heiner Fallas / Photo Assistant

TCNJ Brass Quintet plays at its semi-annual performance.

By Emily Laskey Correspondent

Only few art forms truly unify a group of people in the soulful, intimate way that music has the ability to do. At the College, music performances have provided opportunities for many talented student musicians to share their craft to a vast audience of peers, family members and faculty, while telling stories and illuminating connective emotions through song.

The TCNJ Brass Ensemble, TCNJ Brass Quintet and TCNJ Concert Band took to the stage in Mayo Concert Hall on Thursday, April 28, for their semi-annual performance to showcase the pieces and features they have worked on throughout this semester. All three ensembles came together to create a unified atmosphere between the music and the audience, showing the ways in which music at the College transcends artistry by telling stories that evoke the human experience.

The concert opened with the TCNJ Brass Ensemble, directed and conducted by Adjunct Professor of music James W. Hala.

The performance featured a small, uniform group of musicians who played three songs for the audience. Each piece was presented with a vocal introduction by one of the performers, which provided an easy transition

between songs that helped to set the context from piece to piece. They began with two movements of the collective piece “Of Kingdoms and Glory,” which tells the story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, Queen Guinevere and a dragon. The plot became evident through the symphonic transitions of key and tempo, supported by sophomore trumpet soloist Noah Brown, who played the part of the dragon. These particular selections helped to create a clear story for the audience, as the thematic melodies were played to represent people and actions.

TCNJ Brass Ensemble concluded its performance with “Tent of Terror,” the first movement from “A Little Russian Circus,” which created a suspenseful circus presentation through a lively tempo leading up to the finale. The ensemble had then set the stage for the next performances by TCNJ Brass Quintet, which comprises only five student musicians.

TCNJ Brass Quintet, also directed by Hala, featured five talented brass musicians, each holding their own part throughout two self-conducted pieces. The first, “Organ Sonata No. 2,” was originally written for the organ, but was impressively performed by the quintet and each individual’s part carried and unified the harmonies.

Although only five musicians participated, the sonata sounded as though a full band was playing. Their concluding piece, “Adagio for Strings,” told a heartwarming story through the legato transcendence of sections that flowed into one another through minor and flat key signatures, setting the somber, soulful tone. Just before the intermission, the audience was left with the lingering feelings of connection and peace, brought upon by the immense talent of the College’s student musicians and the way their music had spoken volumes.

To open the second half of the show was the TCNJ Concert Band, directed and conducted by Marian Stewart, which featured a much larger, diverse group of musicians. Brass, string, percussion and wind were all combined to create a grand and complex collective performance. Highlights included a classical Tchaikovsky piece entitled “Marche Slave,” a familiar melody frequently featured in television and film, and most recently in the video game “Fallout 4.”

“Marche Slave” brought classical music to the modern day, connecting the historical piece to a top video game in which audience members can relate.

“It felt like I was experiencing a part of

history as I played it,” said freshman physics major Jake Syetta, who played the alto saxophone with TCNJ Concert Band.

Overall, the concert had not only presented a beautiful showcase, but also an upstanding example of the many musical opportunities offered at the College.

“Music is something I’m really passionate about,” said freshman physics and secondary education dual major Samantha Staskiewicz, a percussionist for TCNJ Concert Band. “We all have that drive to be there and perform each piece. I love that performing is really a unifying experience.”

TCNJ Concert Band ended the night with the contemporary piece “Strange Humors,” a significant contrast to the other songs. The usage of the djembe, an African drum uncommon to the U.S., added an interesting layer to the finale of the concert and further allowed for the music to reach its audience at its ultimate potential.

The well-rounded musical presence and opportunity on campus became evident in the sole conviction of the incredible performance.

Combining musical performances with lyrical storytelling, the entirety of the concert expressed the talented artistry of the College’s student musicians that truly resonated with the audience throughout the evening.

Heiner Fallas / Photo Assistant

Performers display talent at the individual and group levels.

‘Grey’s Anatomy’ at 12 seasons and still counting

By Alyssa Gautieri Staff Writer

By now, most people have heard of the beloved television drama “Grey’s Anatomy.” However, new fans, who may have been able to avoid the frequent social media outbursts of shock and sadness throughout the show’s 12 seasons, should stop reading now due to spoilers. For the few who may be unaware, “Grey’s Anatomy” is a medical drama series that focuses on a group of surgeons, but this ABC series has been so much more than just a show.

After 12 seasons, fans have

developed strong relationships with the show’s characters. Unfortunately, since it began in 2005, “Grey’s Anatomy” has been known to keep fans on the edge of their seats in constant fear that their favorite character may die.

Writer Shonda Rhimes has been known for killing off main cast members with little warning.

We have grieved many lives, such as George (T.R. Knight), Lexie (Chyler Leigh) and Mark (Eric Dane), but no one expected that we would one day mourn the death of the beloved surgeon Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey).

When the 12th season — the first

Ellen Pompeo plays Meredith Grey stronger than ever.

AP Photo

season without Derek “McDreamy” Shepherd — aired in September, there was debate and worry from fans about what the season would entail. Fans wondered if the show would be a success without Derek, whether the characters would move on from his death and how his wife, Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), would manage in her deceased husband’s absence.

When any show drops a main star, there is a risk of losing fans dedicated to that character. After Derek’s death, the “Grey’s Anatomy” writers were faced with the extreme challenge of how to rewrite the show. The writers needed to keep the show fresh and fill in the space once occupied by Derek without changing the show so much that it would be unrecognizable.

So did Rhimes succeed with writing a new season of “Grey’s Anatomy” or was Derek’s death the breaking point for fans that have already lost so many amazing characters? Although the latter may have been true for some fans, the new approach to the 12th season was impressive.

The season introduced a half-sister Meredith never knew she had, who Meredith then moved in with — along with her sister-in-law, Derek’s sister Amelia. With the loss of Derek, as well as the previous

losses of Meredith’s mother, stepmother and half-sister, her children were the only family she had left, so it made sense that writers would bring an added focus to Meredith’s remaining family. The beginning of this season focused on Meredith’s growing relationship with her two unconventional sisters, which was an inspiring portrayal of the nonnuclear family.

There was originally concern that Meredith would be a lesser character without Derek, but this was proven untrue throughout the season. The writers highlighted Meredith’s strength by giving an inside view of her struggle with loss. After 12 years, it had seemed as though fans had learned everything they thought they could about Meredith, but she was reinvented from the “dark and twisty” character she once was to the open character that she becomes through therapy sessions and growing relationships with her family and friends. Meredith accepts that she needs her friends and family to cope with her loss and “Grey’s Anatomy” continued to establish Meredith’s new character realistically, despite the many tragedies she has experienced.

The writers did Derek’s death justice by representing Meredith’s pain and incorporating his death

throughout the entire season. Some shows completely ignore the death of a character after it has occurred, but for “Grey’s Anatomy,” this was definitely not the case. Throughout the 12th season, we were reminded of Derek’s death in subtle ways.

When Meredith considered pursuing a new love interest in the show, she had a mental breakdown.

As sad as it was to watch, the writers dealt with Derek’s death in the most realistic way possible. Fans were not over his death, so the characters should not have been ready to move on, either. Viewers were relieved to see Meredith still struggling with Derek’s death, too.

Besides an occasional reminder of Derek’s death, the show has attempted to take on a new, fun and humorous attitude. With Meredith and her sisters all living together, the 12th season has taken fans back to the first few seasons, when Meredith’s house had an open door policy to any intern or doctor who needed a place to stay. The attitude of the show has changed and the show has gone on successfully, continuing to grow without Derek. Hopefully, “Grey’s Anatomy” will continue to follow the show’s current happy plotline because fans will unlikely be able to handle much more grief down the show’s road.

page 22 The Signal May 4, 2016

Students enjoying Ramapo College’s beautiful 300-acre campus.

Use your summer to get a jump on fall.

Summer is not only a great time to go to the beach and hang out with friends, but it is also a great way to get some of your required courses and pre-reqs completed – giving you flexibility – and a head-start for your fall schedule. Ramapo College’s Summer Session offers undergraduate courses across all disciplines, both on campus and online. Courses are available to visiting students from other colleges and universities*.

Ranked as one of the “Best Bang-for-theBuck Colleges in the Northeast” by Washington Monthly.

Listed by Kiplinger’s as one of 100 Best Values in Public Colleges.

Registration is currently open to visiting students.

Explore course offerings at: www.ramapo.edu/summer1

Explore summer course offerings at: www.ramapo.edu/summer1 *It is your responsibility to check with your home institution’s credit transfer policies and requirements to determine eligibility of courses and the acceptable transfer of credits.

Ranked by U.S. News & World Report as one of the Best Regional Universities North category for public institutions.

505 Ramapo Valley Road, Mahwah, NJ

As a College of Distinction, Ramapo attracts and supports engaged students, great teaching, a vibrant community and successful outcomes.

SUMMER AND WINTER SESSIONS

AT TCNJ

SESSION 1: MAY 23–JUNE 10, 2016 SESSION 2: JUNE 13–JULY 14, 2016 SESSION 3: JULY 18–AUGUST 18, 2016 Travel, blended, and online courses may begin sooner.

summer@tcnj.edu http://www.tcnj.edu/intersession

Check for winter courses, too.

On campus, blended, online, and travel.

Market showcases student talent

By Alyssa Gautieri Staff Writer

Students and faculty looking for creative ways to decorate their homes or alter their styles had the opportunity to buy original artwork, crafts, T-shirts, music and more at the College’s Arters Market, held on Green Lawn on Wednesday, April 27.

Hosted by Rebel Art Movement (RAM), the College’s second annual Arters Market showcased work by various artists, each with their own individual styles across differing mediums, including watercolor, screen printing, painting and charcoal.

Sophomore fine arts major Brigid Barber was one of the many students who participated, selling T-shirts, photos and other homemade items at the event.

“I think (the Arters Market) is a great way to show people how artists can essentially be entrepreneurs,” Barber said. “I didn’t realize how diverse the artists were going to be or that we would have so many tables.”

The current RAM co-Presidents Molly Revie, Kelly King and Owen Lynskey, who are all sophomore fine arts majors, collectively developed the Arters Market in Fall 2015. According to Revie, the three thought the art community on campus was not apparent enough.

“We were thinking of ways to make our presence more known on campus and we thought art markets are great,” Revie said.

“What better way (for students) to make money by selling their artwork and getting their name out there?”

The market featured approximately 30 distinct artists. Although many artists created pieces specifically to sell to students and faculty, some artists chose to repurpose old school projects and transform them into affordable artwork. Meanwhile, some created artwork differently than others.

Junior English and interactive multimedia double major Gin Allcock could easily create a new drawing in 10 minutes. For a fast-working artist like Allcock, it made sense that they created work specifically for the market.

“It is cool because in the style I have developed for myself, if I mess up, I can fix it just by thickening the lines in the drawing,” Allcock said. “I just go with it and if I mess up, then I just work it in.”

For Allcock, not much planning goes into their art, which was great for earning a profit at the Arters Market.

While Allcock can produce their artwork quickly, they have been developing their own style for over one year now.

“I think I improve with everything I make,” Allcock said.

Sophomore fine arts major Nina Mitarotondo also developed work specifically for the Arters Market.

“My work is normally less commercialbased,” she said. “But I wanted to make something affordable for college students for their dorms, so (I made) dorm decorations and prints for them to put on their walls and just little trinkets for them.”

The Arters Market challenged art students to produce work targeted to their peers.

Sophomore art education major Marisal Finamore thought every student could use a little more inspiration, so she sold watercolor paintings with inspirational quotes on them that were written in fonts she taught herself how to create.

According to Finamore, her artwork was

done out of pure fun and enjoyment, but it was a plus that she was able to sell it to her peers.

Finamore also talked about her creative process when producing her work for the market.

“I definitely need to have some kind of idea of where I am going and then it’s kind of letting it happen,” Finamore said.

However, for sophomore graphic design major Rob Birnbohm, the process was a little different because he chose to sell prints of his original works rather than develop all new artwork for the market.

“These are pieces I have used before,” said RAM member Birnbohm, who also showcases his artistic abilities as a cartoonist for The Signal. “I decided to use a program to make them an appropriate size for prints.”

Birnbohm repurposed his artwork to be useful for students because his original artwork would have been larger and, therefore, more expensive. By creating prints, Birnbohm gave students a more affordable opportunity to showcase his art in their dorm rooms, apartments or off-campus homes.

These were only a select few of the many talented artists that participated at the Arters Market. Despite the different processes, styles and mediums of each artist, they all shared one thing is common — their love for art.

Students enjoy RAM’s Arters Market on Green Lawn.

Heiner Fallas / Photo Assistant

May 4, 2016 The Signal page 23

This week, WTSR Assistant Music Director Nelson Kelly highlights some of the best new albums that the College’s own radio station, 91.3 FM WTSR, puts into its weekly rotation.

Band: King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard Album: “Nonagon Infinity” Hailing From: Melbourne, Australia Genre: Izard Core (Psychedelic Fuzz Jam) Label: ATO Records Put on your traditional Aboriginal garb and bust out your favorite kangaroo because fuzz-rock royalty from down under is back and better than ever. “Nonagon Infinity” pushes the limits of fuzzy garage rock as King Gizzard strives for originality and innovation within the admittedly stale genre. What makes “Nonagon Infinity” stand out from past Gizzard albums is its seamless flow. Each song transitions into the next perfectly to form an album that, as a whole, is cohesive and consistent, but still manages to catch your attention and satisfy fans listening to the individual tracks. Thus, “Nonagon Infinity” is a twopronged audio assault of fuzz. The first prong hits you hard all at once, while the other hits you with pieces like the Zords from “Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers.”

Must Hear: “Big Fat Wasp,” “Gamma Knife,” “People Vultures” and “Wah Wah”

‘Gears’ multiplayer beta shows promise

By Michael Battista Sports Editor I reviewed “Gears of War: Ultimate Edition” for the Xbox One a few months ago and praised its ability to recapture and reinvigorate the game series on the next-generation console. Now, the game developer called The Coalition is set to add another game to the series, “Gears of War 4,” to be released for Xbox One on Tuesday, October 11, pending any delays. The Coalition also recently gave the public a chance to play some of the game’s multiplayer features.

Starting on Monday, April 18, for those who played “Ultimate Edition” — Monday, April 25, for the general public — the “Gears of War 4” multiplayer beta allowed players to take part in three game types, while putting the game’s servers and matchmaking abilities to the test. This lasted until Monday, May 1, when the beta ended and all of the stats set during the two week span were reset in anticipation for the game’s October launch.

Unfortunately, there were issues when finding a multiplayer game throughout the two week span. Whether it had been due to the game only being a beta or an unreliable internet connection, I was not able to find a game, had to deal with lag — or slowed down matches — and was even kicked out from games multiple times. Hopefully, if this was a beta issue, it will be fixed by the time the game comes out.

Nonetheless, the game looked great. Although it is several months from the release date, it clearly showed that the graphics and technology will be using the Xbox One to its full potential.

The best example of this was in rainy Harbor — one of the three maps available in the beta. Some of the rain droplets moved in the wind and the entire map shined with the coating of rain, however, the characters’ appearances were unaffected by the weather.

The “Ultimate Edition” had a bleak color palette, with a few brighter colors thrown in to show off the new graphics, which matched the tone of the original game. “Gears 4” introduced more dynamic settings in its environments that allowed for new colors to emerge. These ranged from the dark and stormy Harbor to the bright and sunny Dam map, which takes place on a mountainside. Dam has

bright equipment and other set pieces that allowed it to standout.

Regarding the gameplay, the beta felt somewhat similar to the “Ultimate Edition,” but brought some of the feeling from the third series installment. Unlike previous games, the characters were more nimble, so movement around each map was smoother and more natural. Matches felt more fast-paced, with some matches lasting under 10 minutes. The camera was also farther back from the character than it was in the “Ultimate Edition,” allowing for an open view of the surrounding area. This made the biggest difference since the maps included several points to observe large amounts of land, so spotting an enemy and observing others’ movements played a larger role than in previous games.

All the standard weapons returned to the game with one new piece making its debut — the Dropshot. An interesting weapon, the Dropshot launches an explosive into the air and, while the player holds the right trigger, the explosive moves forward until the player releases the trigger to slam the weapon into the ground and explode.

However, the Dropshot may need balancing before the full game is released because the blast radius was too large. There were deaths that came seemingly out of nowhere with no nearby explosion.

The modes available included the standard Team Deathmatch, as well as a Co-op Team Deathmatch, where players can take on a team entirely composed of high difficulty artificially intelligent players and a new game mode called Dodgeball.

Dodgeball is an extension of Team Deathmatch, and each team starts with five players. Once someone is killed, it is up to their teammates to kill someone on the other team to bring them back into the game. A round can only be won when all players on the opposing team are dead and the ultimate winners have to win the best of five rounds.

Overall, the “Gears of War 4” beta showed merely one-half of the upcoming game and not even all of the multiplayer gameplay, but was enough to gain a solid idea of the game. The multiplayer looks to be shaping up quite nicely with enough new advancements to keep players interested, while staying true to the series’ traditions. Although I am more excited for the story of the upcoming game, I was entertained for hours while playing the beta.

Band: Nothing Album: “Tired of Tomorrow” Hailing From: Philadelphia Genre: Dream Punk Label: Relapse When asked what one word would best describe Nothing’s sound, most people would respond with “LOUD,” though some wise guys might say “silent.” “Tired of Tomorrow” is the follow-up album to 2014’s “Guilty of Everything,” and it came just as everyone’s eardrums have finally recovered from the tremendous wall of sound that album delivered. The band picked up right where it left off with this album, from the hard-hitting chords of the lead-off track, “Fever Queen,” to the mourning arpeggios of “Eaten by Worms.” The sheer volume of these songs creates more than the shoegaze-y sound that these guys are going for.

The absolutely brutal guitars over thunderous drums and bass convey the pain and struggle that singer Domenic Palermo’s soft, soothing voice cannot. “Tired of Tomorrow” shows Nothing moving more toward a very mature, heavy sound that will hit you hard and stay with you long after you listen.

Must Hear: “The Dead are Dumb,” “Vertigo Flowers,” “A.C.D.,” “Curse of the Sun” and “Eaten by Worms”

page 24 The Signal May 4, 2016

Sports

Track & Field

Lions beat their bests at home meet

By Nicole DeStefano Staff Writer

The men’s and women’s track and field teams hosted their annual Lion’s Invitational on Friday, April 29, and Saturday, April 30.

The teams celebrated numerous personal best performances and recognized several graduating seniors at their final home meet.

The 1,500-meter race was highlighted by two underclassmen. Freshman Luke Prothero finished in second place with a personal best of 3:59.88, while sophomore Dale Johnson clocked in at 4:07.11 with a sixth-place finish.

The distance events included two thirdplace performances. Freshman Jack Wood achieved a personal best of 1:54.78 in the 800-meter race. In the 5,000-meter race, freshman Brian Mitchell finished with a best of 15:41.16.

Senior duo Laron Day and Mike Larkin once again contributed top-10 performances in the 400-meter hurdles. At their last home meet, Day placed seventh with a season-best time of 54.45. Larkin followed in seventh at 55.29, a personal best.

The sprints were dominated by freshmen Kamal Williams and Nathan Osterhus.

In the 400-meter race, Williams finished in ninth place with an individual best time of 49.57. Williams achieved another personal best time of 22.94 in the 200-meter dash.

Osterhus also put forth a personal best time of 22.67, alongside junior Zach Hubner, who finished at 22.85.

On the field, sophomore Andrew McNutt jumped to fifth place with a distance of 13.78 in the long jump. Junior Chris Guglielmo took

seventh in the pole vault at 4.40 meters.

“I was happy with my performance this week,” McNutt said. “Over the past couple of weeks, I have been consistently jumping well and with the NJACs (New Jersey Athletic Conference) coming up next week, I am excited to see what I will jump.”

For the men, this was the last home meet for seniors Day, Larkin, Tyler Grimm, Roberto Guiducci, Jake Lindacher, Scott Savage and Jonathan Stouber.

“It will be sad to see the seniors graduate this year,” McNutt said. “I have formed a great bond with them... They have taught me many things in and outside of track.

Although it won’t be the same next year without the seniors, I look forward to meeting the upcoming freshmen and forming friendships with them.”

On the women’s side, senior Marissa Lerit overcame all of the other Division III opponents in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 18:07.24. Sophomore Sarina Sokoloff and freshman Alyssa Kramer followed in 11th and 12th places, with times of 19:49.99 and 19:58.84, respectively.

The Lions represented the College in the 1,500-meter run, with junior Laura Straub running a personal best time of 4:57.49 for 18th place among 60 runners. Sophomore Allison Fournier and freshman Abigail Faith followed in 21st and 23rd, with times of 5:00.30 and 5:03.48, respectively. Senior Kayla Glynn ran her career-best time of 5:07.25 at her last home meet.

Senior Joy Spriggs placed fourth in the 400-meter race, clocking in at 58.32. In the 400-meter hurdles, senior Kristen Randolph

Photo courtesy of the Sports Information Desk

Straub strides past her personal best in the 1,500-meter.

boasted a sixth-place performance at 1:05.32.

“It was a great home meet,” Spriggs said.

“Seeing alumni come back was a great addition to the meet and I am excited to see what the team does progressing forward. Everyone is doing amazing things. I love watching everyone compete.”

In the 100-meter dash, sophomore Danielle Celestin clocked in at 12.79 for a seventhplace finish. She returned to the track for a 12th-place finish in the 200-meter race, clocking in at 26.48.

On the field, senior Courtney Paciulli placed seventh in the triple jump with a distance of 10.80 meters. She returned with a 13th-place finish of 5.08 meters in the long jump. Sophomore Amanda Cucarese took

eighth place with a distance of 5.19 meters in the long jump.

The javelin was highlighted by two freshman top-10 performances — Stephanie Wolfer threw a distance of 37.66 meters for sixth place and Erin McHugh grabbed 10th at 37.14 meters.

The Invitational was the last home meet for seniors Spriggs, Randolph, Glynn, Lerit, Paciulli, Allison Ruszczyk, Carly Martz and Julie Swift.

“Stay motivated, stay hungry… when you have those tough performances, take them as a learning lesson and do not get too hung up on them,” Paciulli said. “You’re here for a reason… pretty soon, you’re going to be like me and have minimal meets left.”

Tennis

Tennis caps off regular season with a sweep

By Connor Smith Social Media Editor

The men’s tennis team finalized its case for an NCAA Tournament bid with a shutout win on Wednesday, April 27, against Kutztown University.

The Lions — following their Monday, April 25, loss to the Stevens University Ducks — improved their overall record to 10-6. The College also honored seniors Pierce Cooper and Jason Prezant before the match.

“No matter how much you love your team, there will always be ups and downs,” Prezant said. “This team knows how to stick together and fight in the lowest moments, even when down match point… I have enjoyed every second with my teammates, whether it was spent traveling on a bus for hours at a time to matches or grabbing food in Eick after a long practice. Every single player on this team has had a significant influence on me.”

The Lions pounced on the Kutztown University Golden Bears in doubles competition. Freshman Mitchel Sanders and Cooper extended their combined winning streak to seven games with an 8-3 win on court one.

Junior Mike Stanley and Prezant continued their success on court two with an 8-1 win. The Lions ended doubles with a 3-0 lead, due to a Golden Bears forfeit on court three.

“One reason why our team has stayed so strong through illnesses is because people on our team play their heart out during practice,” Prezant said. “When one of our top players is dealing with an illness and needs time off, the other players are ready to move up into the starting roster and get into the action.”

In singles, Cooper walked onto his home court one for the final time in his collegiate career. The senior dropped his first set, 5-2, forcing him to collect himself for a 6-3 set two win. In his final set, Cooper was pushed to his limit, but he eventually won the tiebreaker, 10-5.

The Lions shut out the Kutztown Golden Bears.

With Cooper’s win, the Lions clinched their 10th and final regular season victory, as the fifth point came from another Golden Bears forfeit on court six. The Lions were poised to earn their fifth shutout of the regular season.

Junior Jack August — having recovered from an illness — looked ready for NCAAs with a win in straight sets on court two (6-2, 6-1).

Sophomore Chris D’Agostino extended the College’s lead to 7-0 with wins in straight sets (6-3, 6-2), while freshman Omar Bokhari earned his eighth win of the season on court four (6-3, 6-0).

With his team’s shutout hopes on his back, freshman Tim Gavornik did not concede a single game, earning the College’s final win on court five (6-0, 6-0).

“Closing out any match with a complete shutout always gives us confidence, especially moving forward,” Prezant said. “However, this match against Kutztown was the last match of our regular season. As a senior,

Photo courtesy of the Sports Information Desk

this match meant everything to compete in.”

With the win, the College improved to 10-6 on the year. The men will compete in the NCAA Regional Tournament on Thursday, May 12, and Friday, May 13.

As for the coveted National Tournament, players are confident they’ll receive a bid to the NCAA Tournament, according to Dicheck.

“You never know because it’s a committee that chooses,” Dicheck said. “Based on our ranking, I would be shocked (if we didn’t make it).”

Although the men must wait on a committee decision, the women’s tennis team punched its ticket with a New Jersey Athletic Conference win in the Fall 2015 season.

“Making Nationals is an extremely difficult achievement for any team,” Prezant said. “Although we are all anxious to see if all of our hard work has earned us a spot in Nationals, all we can do is continue practicing with 110 percent effort until the big announcement is made.”

May 4, 2016 The Signal page 25

Lax / Lacrosse extends winning streak

Photos courtesy of the Sports Information Desk

Left: The Lions finish their regular season with a 16-1 record. Right: Muller helps the Lions beat the Ospreys, 10-1. continued from page 28 conference title this year.

Rain was not a factor when the Lions took on the Kean University Cougars at home on Senior Day on Saturday, April 30. There, the Lions proved they were the fiercer felines in a 16-7 victory over the Cougars. With these last two wins, the Lions remain undefeated in the NJAC and finish the regular season with just a single loss.

Despite a tough first half against Kean, Head Coach Sharon Pfluger said her team “stayed

confident and worked very hard and played together as a team” to secure the win.

The Lions dug their claws into the Cougars less than two minutes into the match with a goal from senior midfielder Megan Devlin.

Just two minutes later, sophomore midfielder Amanda Muller followed up with a goal of her own.

The Cougars pushed back with a single goal, but it was swiftly answered by a goal apiece from sophomore attacker Emily Kratz and freshman midfielder Erin Harvey.

Harvey had a massive impact in the first half, netting two more goals in the period. After scoring on a free position shot, Harvey made the draw control herself before scoring again just 10 seconds later, bringing the Lions lead to 7-2.

The Cougars surged onward to close the gap. They scored three unanswered goals to end the first half on a two-goal deficit.

With the Cougars on their tails, the Lions opened the second half with a bang. Just 30 seconds into the period, Kratz scored again.

The Lions went on to make five

Cheap Seats

The 2016 Rio Olympics A by-the-numbers look

By Colleen Murphy Editor-in-Chief The tear-jerker P&G commercials are back on the air, and that can only mean one thing: The Olympics are coming.

There is now less than 100 days to go until the Friday, Aug. 5, Opening Ceremonies in Rio, and despite the negative storylines that surround this year’s Games — the dangers of the Zika virus, poor Brazilian economy, etc. — athletes and the countries they will represent are already feeling the excitement.

As I did for the 2014 Winter Olympics, here is a by-the-numbers-look at this summer’s Olympic Games: 98: The percentage of venues that are complete, according to the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

11: The number of workers who have been killed while working on the Olympic infrastructure project, according to USA Today.

60: The percentage of Guanabara Bay’s surface that is clean, CNN reported. The other 40 percent continues to be polluted by raw sewage. The bay will be used for several aquatic events, such as the triathlon and rowing races.

0: The number of chances South Korean athletes want to take at contracting the Zika virus. The country’s athletes “will wear tracksuits, which have been infused with insect repellant designed to

keep mosquitoes away, as well as long pants and blazers for the opening and closing ceremonies,” according to a CNN report.

more unanswered goals in the next 15 minutes. Kratz led the scoring with five goals.

The Lions ended the game with a harrowing 39 shots, but the Cougars goalkeeper kept it a close match, blocking 20 wouldbe goals for the Lions. Pfluger said the talented goalie, in addition to inaccurate shooting from the Lions in the first half, created a roadblock for her team.

“I think that we weren’t shooting quite as well in the first half,” Pfluger said. “We really just had to find the net and I think we did

Graduate Studies

TCNJ | Leads the Way It’s your move.

85,000: The number of soldiers and police officers who will be on duty during the Games, according to CNN. $11-$1,300: The price range for a ticket into a sporting event, depending on the sport, CNN said.

7.5 million: The number of tickets that have been sold so far.

5-10: The number of athletes expected to compete on the new team of Refugee Olympic Athletes, according to USA Today. The IOC said the refugees will be competing under the Olympic flag.

3: The number of all-around world championships American gymnast Simone Biles has won. She is expected to have a superb showing at the Games.

22: The number of medals with which Michael Phelps is entering the Rio Games.

19: The age of returning Olympic American swimmer Katie Ledecky, who is expected to qualify for all of her races and pull off, what NBC News calls, a “Phelpsian Olympics.”

And finally...

0: The days I can wait until the Olympic Games begin.

that in the second half.”

The sky over Lions Stadium was gray with clouds that afternoon, but unlike at the Stockton game earlier that week, there was no rainfall to disrupt the match.

With the victory over Kean, the Lions regular season ends.

Punctuating that gray afternoon, pinned to the farthest fence from the stands, three yellow signs could be seen honoring the graduating Lions at their last regular season game — #4 Cortney Natalicchio, #17 Erin Waller and #20 Megan Devlin.

Find out more by visiting www.tcnj.edu/tcnjgrad Or call 609.771.2300

page 26 The Signal May 4, 2016 Cheap Seats

Another year in the wild world of sports

By Michael Battista Sports Editor

Another school year is coming to a close, and what a year it was for sports across the board.

In an almost-cruel twist of fate, the year is ending how it started: focusing on how big Patriots quarterback (QB) Tom Brady’s balls are. Coming into the year, the question was whether the four-game suspension will hold, and once again, one judge’s recent ruling has thrown that question out.

However, the 2015-16 school year in sports has been full of little guys, fighting to prove they belong.

The final four teams in the 2015 World Series were all — to be blunt — former losers. A few years ago, the Toronto Blue Jays would never have been looked at as a playoff team, back when the American League East was respectable and the Chicago Cubs were on the verge of breaking a curse that is more than 100 years old.

But the last two — the New York Mets and the Kansas City Royals — battled to bring home a trophy that neither of their teams have held since the mid-1980s. While Mets pitcher Matt Harvey sunk to unimaginable lows after his Game 5 collapse, Royals catcher Salvador Pérez and his team helped bring a city to its feet.

Then there’s my favorite story of the year — that of NHL enforcer and All-Star Most Valuable Player (MVP), John Scott. The man who started out as a joke vote for Pacific Division captain in the 61st NHL All-Star Game quickly became a fan favorite. His upbeat personality — even when shady dealings landed him in the American Hockey League — made him the underdog that hockey fans wanted to support. With only five goals to his NHL career, Scott went out and scored twice for his team en route to winning the newly-created All-Star tournament and being named MVP. Now that should make his four kids proud.

Something else that has been going on this year is the surgence of women in sports, and good ones, at that.

The continued success of mixed martial artist Ronda

Rousey and her eventual defeat at the hands of Holly Holm was constantly in the public eye. Rousey brought prominence to a sport that was both niche and heavily dominated by men — and the best part is she isn’t even done yet.

The United States Women’s National Soccer Team fought to show they were the best in the world during the 2015 Women’s World Cup, prior to the school year. Now, they are fighting to prove they deserve just as much as the men’s teams do. No matter what side you’re on in the debate, it’s admirable to see women like Hope Solo, Carli Lloyd and Alex Morgan all fight to be paid as much as their less-successful male counterparts, which will be interesting to watch as time goes on.

The Golden State Warriors weren’t fighting to prove they belonged in the NBA — any fan could tell you that. They fought for their chance to go down in history as one of the most dominant squads of all time.

Coming off their 2015 NBA Championship, the Warriors started the 2016 season strong with 24 straight wins. As the season progressed, more and more people began to realize they could beat the 1995-96 record held by the Chicago Bulls, considered one of the best teams in the game’s history. The Warriors, lead by Steph Curry, not only set a new record at 73-9, but Curry is well on his way to becoming an NBA MVP after a season filled with 400 plus 3-pointers and regular baskets each. He’s proven Lebron James isn’t the only great export to come from Akron, Ohio.

Finally, what might be one of the biggest upsets this century is taking place across the pond in the Barclays Premier League. Leicester City F.C. started the season this year coming off an 11-8-19 record, four places above being relegated to the lower Football League Championship, and had a 5,000-1 longshot to win the league this year. Fast forward a few months and now they stand at he mounain top as league champions for the first time in the club’s 132-year history. Headed by players like striker Jamie Vardy, who leads the team with 22 goals, and midfielder Riyad Mahrez, second with 18, the team has defied all expectations, making

The Warriors continue to make hisory.

AP Photo

it to the UEFA Champions League, also for the first time in team history, and is now crowned the best team in England.

It’s been incredible not only to watch, but to cover in The Signal, as well. The NHL and NBA Playoffs will continue, as will MLB’s regular season and the NFL Draft, but it’s important to look back on the amazing things that have happened in the last few months to make sports fans appreciate what they saw.

In the words of the late, legendary New York Yankees catcher Lawrence Peter “Yogi” Berra, “You can observe a lot by just watching.”

Baseball

Tennis

Wins / Softball in NJACs Run / Lions bounce back Team wins with walk-off continued from page 28

The Lions sweep huge doubleheaders. continued from page 28

In the first match, sophomore pitcher Sam Platt collected her 15th victory of the season as the Lions won, 4-0. At the bottom of the fourth inning, Vuono drove a single toward center field to send Utter to home plate, giving the Lions a 4-0 lead. The four runs proved to be enough — Platt limited the Roadrunners to only three hits.

Afterwards, the Lions fought for one last win, as they narrowly defeated the Roadrunners, 3-2.

The Lions marked the scoreboard first when sophomore outfielder Madison Levine scored off of Santelli’s double in the bottom of the second inning.

The Roadrunners countered in the top of the fifth inning when junior infielder Grace Brennan and freshman infielder Megan Wall advanced to home off a double.

Down 2-1, the Lions recovered in the next inning when sophomore catcher

Photo courtesy of the Sports Information Desk

Jenna Schwartz hit a grounder toward left infield and allowed Utter to score from third base. In another relief appearance, Bielamowicz secured the Lions’s 3-2 win by forcing the Roadrunners to hit pop-ups.

The Lions finish their regular season with an overall 26-13 record (13-5 in conference matches). During the season, freshman outfielder Gaby Bennett and Santelli led the Lions offense with .371 and .339 batting averages, respectively.

Meanwhile, Platt led the pitching staff with 15 wins.

By earning the third seed in the NJAC tournament, the Lions set themselves up for another matchup against the No. 4 seed Ramapo College Roadrunners on Tuesday, May 3, at 4 p.m. in Dr. June Walker Field.

“Even though we swept Ramapo, our team has to be prepared for anything, esspecially in the playoffs,” Utter said.

extending their lead to 6-1. Junior infielder Alex Christian slapped a single to right field. Varone advanced to third and senior outfielder Pat Roberts added to the Lions’s score.

Montclair tried to come back at the top at the ninth, scoring one run against the Lions, but would be shut down as sophomore pitcher Matt Curry took to the mound to get the final two outs for the team.

The College and Montclair struck out a 10-inning game in the afternoon game of the doubleheader, with the Lions trailing in the beginning.

Montclair scored two runs in the fourth off of a bullet down the rightfield line and an

Photo courtesy of the Sports Information Desk

Roberts has six home runs.

RBI ground out the Lions second baseman that scored a player.

Zeros remained across the board until the Lions came back in dramatic fashion in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Rizzi lead off by being hit by a pitch, advancing him directly to first. He dominated the bases, stealing second and advancing to third on a ground ball and made it to home by a ground ball off of Roberts bat, pushing the score, 2-1.

Turner came up to bat with the bases empty. With the count at 1-1, Turner blasted a tremendous shot, hitting the left field netting for a solo home run to tie the game at two. He was met by elated cheers by his fellow teammates, who couldn’t keep their excitement in while on the bench.

After Curry pitched a scoreless inning in the top of the 10th, Follet led off the bottom of the inning with a single to center field.

Varone laid down a successful sacrifice bunt to advance Follet, but ended up reaching first on an infield error by Montclair. Rizzi stepped up in the box and moved the runners up with a sacrifice bunt. The Montclair pitcher intentionally walked Anderson to load the bases.

Roberts capped off the game with a walk-off single to left field on a 1-0 count, plating pinch runner and freshman outfielder Erik Rano.

Sophomore pitcher Joe Cirillo pitched a stand-out game on the mound, going nine innings and limiting Montclair to only three hits.

The Lions did register two losses against Rutgers University-Newark, one on Thursday, April 28, and Friday, April 29, falling 5-0 and 7-5 to their opponents. The losses did not make any difference to the team that had an outstanding 2016 season.

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LIONS

May 4, 2016 The Signal page 27

AROUND THE

DORM 5 3

Sean Reis “The Ref”

Chelsea LoCascio News Editor

Sydney Shaw

Managing Editor

George Tatoris Sports Assistant

In this week’s edition of Around the Dorm, the “Ref,” Sean Reis, asks our panel of experts three questions as they vie for the coveted title of Around the Dorm Champion: What can the New York Yankees do to come back from their slow start? Will the Golden State Warriors continue their dominant play without Steph Curry and which Super Bowl halftime show can compare to Prince’s performance?

1. What can the Yankees do to come back from their slow start in the AL East?

Chelsea: Growing up, I was always told I was a Yankees fan. Did my family follow baseball? No. We just said that because we were closest to New York. Now I’m starting to second guess my pretend support for that team as they only won eight games and lost 14, which is pretty embarrassing. Honestly, I’m not too sure that there is anything this team can do to come back from all of the losing. Although I’m not a pro, I used to play softball back in the day. I know that this sport is a mental game and if you keep losing, especially so quickly in each game, then you’re thrown off for the rest of the game or even the season. It’s hard to shake a losing streak and the team is really going to have to try to get out of this rut and start winning.

Sydney: The Yankees can still come back, but not unless the team starts to work on its offense. Coming into Sunday, May 1, the Yankees ranked dead last in the MLB with 74 runs scored. Even the Braves, arguably

AP Photo

the worst team in the league, scored 75 runs.

Center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury hasn’t hit well since coming back from a knee injury last July. Ellsbury isn’t too much of a loss on his own, but first baseman Mark Teixeira

has not provided his usual power this season, and neither have infielder/designated hitter Alex Rodriguez nor outfielder Carlos Beltran. Those three veterans usually anchor New York’s lineup, but none are stepping up

to the plate in the same way they have in the past. If the Yankees can start hitting better, they’ll be back in the game.

George: With their biggest stars now entering their late 30s and early 40s, those with good sense are retiring and the rest are starting to show their age in their stats. Additions like infielder Starlin Castro and pitcher Aroldis Chapman are going to be of little help fixing that. They’ll need a Fountain of Youth to do that, but that’s not to say the Yankees aren’t down for the count, yet. Right now, the 8-14 Yankees are about where they were at the beginning of May in 2005, when they were 10-14. Back then, they managed to turn things around and got into the playoffs.

But it’s going to take a lot of work to recreate that season, primarily from the offense.

With Alex Rodriguez hitting .185 and the team having only 74 runs in all of April — placing them dead last in the entire league — the Yankees are going to need to step up their offense. In 2005, they had 123 runs despite having a similar record of 10-14.

George gets 3 points for A-Rod and age, Sydney gets 2 points for poor offense, Chelsea gets 1 point because you’re a fake fan.

AP Photo

2. Can the Warriors continue their dominant play with Steph Curry injured?

Chelsea: According to espn.com, Curry is not coming back until Monday, May 9, which might hurt the Warriors’s chances a little, but

not completely. Their 73 wins cannot only be attributed to one teammate. Sure, it’s a big loss, but this team has won so many times that it can handle Curry’s absence for a little longer. I have faith in the other teammates,

like Shaun Livingston, who filled in for Curry when he was hurt and aided in the team’s win against the Rockets. The Warriors outscored the other team by 29 points during Livingston’s 28 minutes on the court. Based on that alone, I think the Warriors will survive. However, there are some other notable players that will definitely make up for the loss, such as Draymond Green, who had his best game yet against the Rockets and will continue to do well under pressure.

Sydney: Not only will the Warriors continue their dominant play in Curry’s absence, but in the process, the team will prove itself as something more than just Curry. The team still has Klay Thompson, the less lauded “Splash Brother,” whose skills often get overshadowed by Curry’s. Thompson isn’t the only player on the team who stands in Curry’s shadow: Draymond Green is one of the most unappreciated Warriors. While his gameplay doesn’t fit the conventional norms

of superstardom, Green excels at creating opportunities for other players by moving the ball quickly before the defense gets set. With these two on the front lines, the Warriors will be fine fighting without Curry.

George: If gym class, schmaltzy, sentimental sports movies and Barney the Purple Dinosaur have taught me anything, it’s that teamwork and heart trump everything. The opponent could be steroid-abusing mammoths trained from birth in Siberia by retired Soviets who themselves played on the Gulag’s prison basketball intramurals team at the height of Stalin’s reign, but if they don’t believe in the heart of the sport — whatever the hell that means; only a select few will ever have the privilege to know — they might as well give up.

So really, all the Warriors have to do is believe. Believe in both themselves and their teammates. And basketball. And something else, I guess. I’m just filling up space at this point.

George gets 3 points because I literally lol’d, Sydney and Chelsea both get 2 points for discussing the Warriors’s other talent.

3. Which Super Bowl halftime show can compare to the late Prince’s performance?

Chelsea: While Prince’s Super Bowl performance was truly amazing, it was not the only legendary performance to grace the Super Bowl. Another iconic performer stands out above the rest — the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, who performed in 1993. I wasn’t born yet, but that performance still goes down as one of the best. Several clones of the icon popped up all over the stage, and when the real Jackson showed up, the crowd cheered for a solid minute. Prince had a cooler stage and pyrotechnics, but Jackson’s performance featured hits like “Billie Jean” and his signature gliding and moonwalking across the stage.

Prince and Jackson had a falling out, but they did have one thing in common — they were both talented musicians that left us too early.

Sydney: From a visual and shock-value standpoint, no performance can compare to Beyoncé’s 2013 halftime show. After her silhouette was lit on fire, Beyoncé emerged from a cloud of smoke and launched into a set that featured many of her biggest hits.

All the while, animated duplicate Beyoncés

danced behind her. The Destiny’s Child’s long-rumored reunion commenced when Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams rose from beneath the stage to join Bey for “Bootylicious,” “Independent Women” and “Single Ladies.” During Queen Bey’s reign on the halftime stage, she was backed by dozens of female dancers and band members. Ultimately, the night was a powerful display of feminism, vocals and multimedia flair.

George: My vote goes to the 2001 halftime show because it threw ‘N SYNC and Aerosmith, two contrasting ingredients, into the same pot. Prince performed in 2007, long after his purple reign ended, but in 2001, ‘N SYNC was on top. With Mary J. Blige, Britney Spears and Nelly added, you get an early-2000s-music jambalaya. You first taste the pop of ‘N SYNC, then notes of well-aged Aerosmith. The two trade off the spotlight a few times before the grand finale — every flavor coming together for “Walk This Way”. At one point, Justin Timberlake even shoots tenfoot fireworks out of the palms of his hands (not knowing that four years later, something else would be in one of those palms…).

George gets 3 points for Janet Jackson’s boob, Sydney gets 1 point because I prefer iced tea, Chelsea gets 3 points because MJ was the king, and Prince his prince.

George wins Around the Dorm 9-6-5.

AP Photo

Signal

College ready for NJAC opponents

Sports

Lions barrel through final games

By George Tatoris Sports Assistant The air was full of electricity and the ground was wet with freshly-fallen April rain as the lacrosse team prepared to take on the Stockton University Ospreys on Tuesday, April 26.

The teams were about to take the field when a bolt of lightning struck, delaying the game 30 minutes. There was one more flash before the Lions were allowed to continue at 8 p.m. — a full hour after they were supposed to start.

“It gets a little sloppy on everyone’s part (when playing in the rain),” Pfluger said.

“But everybody’s playing in it so you have to overcome.”

And overcome they did. Before the first six minutes were up, the Lions plundered the Ospreys’s goal four times — with half of those goals coming from senior attacker Cortney Natalicchio. A goal from junior attacker Mia Blackman in the last three minutes of the first period brought the score to 6-0 at the half.

The Ospreys scored on the Lions in the first five minutes of the second period, but the effort was futile. With two goals from Devlin, one of which came off an assist from graduate student attacker Erin Waller, and another goal from Waller herself contributed to the 10-1 victory.

The Ospreys and Lions will meet again on Wednesday, May 4, at 7 p.m. in Lions Stadium for the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) tournament semi-finals. The Lions will be vying for their sixth consecutive see LAX page 25

Photo courtesy of the Sports Information Desk

Softball ends the regular season with a six-game winning streak.

By Miguel Gonzalez Sports Assistant

The Lions concluded their season on a six-game winning streak as they won two crucial New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) doubleheaders at home. On Friday, April 30, the Lions defeated the Montclair State University Red Hawks in 8-5 and 9-1 victories.

The next day, the Lions closed out their final regular season doubleheader with

4-0 and 3-2 wins against the Ramapo College Roadrunners.

During a breezy Friday evening, the Lions powered through a 4-0 deficit to snatch an 8-5 victory against Montclair State Red Hawks.

In the top of the first inning, the Red Hawks’s offense flew into action when sophomore infielder Alana Luna launched a two-run home run to quickly give the Red Hawks a 4-0 lead.

The Lions promptly responded in the

bottom of the second inning when freshman infielder/outfielder Daniella Marino crossed home plate on a single to tie the score at four. The score remained tied until junior outfielder Nerylix Cerda scored on a single in the bottom of the third inning to give the Lions a 5-4 lead.

The Lions offense never stopped, cumulating an 8-4 lead.

The Red Hawks attempted a comeback in the top of the seventh inning, but freshman pitcher Sara Bielamowicz came to the mound as a relief pitcher and silenced the Red Hawks batters. Bielamowicz’s performance led toward the Lions’s 8-5 victory.

The Lions soon followed up with a dominant 9-1 victory in five innings. Senior outfielder Kristen Fitzsimmons and freshman infielder/outfielder Jess Santelli led the College’s roaring offense with two hits apiece. Meanwhile, senior pitcher Katie Hourihan limited the Red Hawks to only four hits.

“The team really showed its potential this weekend,” senior infielder Deanna Utter said. “The offense and defense are clicking together just in time for the playoffs.”

The team’s six seniors — infielder Steph Vuono, catcher Jamie Purcell, Fitzsimmons, pitchers Ashtin Helmer and Hourihan and captain Utter — all played a pivotal role for the Lions through their time at the Dr. June Walker Field. On Saturday, April 30, the seniors rose to the occasion once again to help the Lions secure the third seed in the NJAC tournament with crucial wins against the Ramapo College Roadrunners. see WINS page 26

Baseball in the midst of a monumental year

The Lions boast an overall record of 28-8.

By Jessica Ganga Sports Editor

It has been a dream season

Lions’s Lineup May 4, 2016

I n s i d e

for the College’s baseball team.

An overall record of 28-8 and a New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) overall record of 12-6.

Photo courtesy of the Sports Information Desk

A majority of the players have had outstanding performances and their hard work was rewarded. Even with a couple of

losses last week, the team qualified to compete in the NJAC tournament. The team ousted Montclair State University in a doubleheader, 10-2 and 3-2, on Saturday, April 30. It was the perfect way the team could end their dominating season.

Despite the cloudy weather on Saturday, the baseball team came out hot against Montclair, sweeping its opponents in a doubleheader win.

In the first game of the day, senior pitcher Steven Volpe took to the mound and tossed an impressive game for the Lions. The veteran went eight innings and allowed Montclair just one earned run throughout the game and struck out four opponents. With the win, Volpe earned himself his sixth win of the season and 15th of his career.

On the offensive side, the Lions jumped out early in the game — something they have been consistent with all season.

In the third inning, senior catcher Garen Turner singled to left center, advancing sophomore infielder Patrick Anderson to second and bringing around junior infielder Ben Varone to home.

The Lions packed on the runs in the fourth inning, earning themselves four runs and a 5-0 lead. Montclair’s error on the field and wild pitches by their pitcher played a key role in the rally. Senior outfielder John Rizzi reached base on an error

by Montclair’s third baseman, allowing Varone to advance to third and senior catcher CJ Gearhart to cross home plate. Turner stepped up to the plate singled to the shortstop, scoring Rizzi.

Rizzi had a busy night, coming up in the fifth to single to center field, scoring sophomore outfielder Mike Follet.

The offense continued their scoring in the eighth-inning, see RUN page 26

46 53 Around the Dorm page 27

Cheap Seats page 26

Track and Field page 24

Tennis page 24