The Signal: Fall '15 No. 5

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Breaking news, blogs, and more at TCNJSignal.net. Vol. XLIII, No. 5

September 23, 2015

Serving The College of New Jersey community since 1885

SlutWalk takes stance against sexual assault

Heiner Fallas / Staff Photographer

Students march together, fighting the stigma that provocative clothing is an excuse for assault.

By Sydney Shaw News Editor

Don’t drink too much alcohol. Use the “buddy system.” Dress modestly. In a culture that teaches women not to get raped instead of teaching men not to rape, Women in Learning and Leadership (WILL) took a stance against sexual assault with the annual March to End Rape Culture: SlutWalk on Tuesday, Sept. 15. “Rapists aren’t the monsters we imagine in our

heads,” said political analyst and key speaker Zerlina Maxwell. “Rapists are just regular people who chose to violate consent.” Maxwell, who has written about the subject for outlets such as CNN and Marie Claire, denounced the idea that victims of rape are responsible for the attack. “Rape is not a side effect of drinking too much,” she said. “Wearing a certain outfit is not an invitation to be violated.” Students who attended the march wore a wide array of outfits, many of which might be considered “revealing,” in order to fight the stigma that an outfit is an excuse to take

advantage of someone else. Jennie Sekanics, co-executive chair of WILL and senior English and women’s and gender studies double major, dressed in a Catwoman costume for this year’s event. “I’m Catwoman against catcalls,” she said. Katie Yorke, co-programming chair of WILL and senior Spanish and international relations double major, opted for long sleeves and pants. “I was going to dress in a crazy outfit,” she said, “but just this morning, I was catcalled wearing this outfit.” Maxwell places catcalling in the category of “unhealthy masculinity.” “Why are you looking at me like I’m a piece of meat?” she asked. “I’m not here for you to look at. I’m a person.” According to statistics Maxwell shared before the march, one in five women will be the victim of an attempted or completed rape at some point in her lifetime. For women in college, one in four will be victims. Maxwell encouraged students to help reframe the conversation surrounding sexual assault by asking different questions. “We should be asking why the rapist didn’t ask for consent,” she said. “We should ask why he didn’t stop when she said ‘no.’ We should never ask her what she was wearing. We should never ask her why she drank so much.” Maxwell shared parts of an article she wrote for ebony. com entitled “5 Ways We Can Teach Men Not to Rape.” In her list, she encourages everybody to teach young people about legal consent, how to express healthy masculinity and to believe survivors who come forward. “When a friend tells you that they have been the victim of a rape, you shouldn’t ask, ‘Are you sure?’” she said. “You should ask, ‘Are you OK?’” Maxwell also delved into the rumor that a large see WALK page 2

Fight to fix historic farmhouse grows Junior student

passes away, College grieves

By Sydney Shaw News Editor

A wicker rocking chair rests out on the porch, shaded by the veranda above. A short wooden railing wraps halfway around the colonial farmhouse, the backdrop to a few high-reaching shrubs and wildflowers. Chalk-white chimneys rise up amid chocolate-brown shingles on the roof. The front yard is vast and open, peppered with a few solid, old trees and a flagpole stuck into the ground. It’s a quaint little home on a picturesque piece of land. But that was back in 1960 — the same year the College purchased the building. Today, the Green Farmhouse is utterly dilapidated. Its two doors and six windows have been sealed off and painted a forest green color. The porch is gone, along with its pretty wooden skirting. Both verandas were lost long ago. The shingles on the roof are sparse and the paint has mostly chipped away, leaving nothing but the remnants of the building’s famous Flemish bond brickwork. That’s why the house has been placed on the Preservation New Jersey 2015 list of the “10 Most Endangered Historic

By Julie Kayzerman & Sydney Shaw Editor-in-Chief & News Editor

Photo courtesy of Ewing Preservation Society

The College is confronted about neglecting to further preserve the structure. Sites,” and it’s why The Friends of the William Green Farmhouse is finally putting its foot down. “What would your neighbors say if you bought a house and let it go derelict for 55 years?” asked Billy Joe O’Neal, Jr., vice president of The Friends. The Friends is a nonprofit organization founded in 2000 with the sole mission of working cooperatively with the College to restore the farmhouse. In 2007, at the urging of The Friends and the intervention of State Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, the College spent around

INDEX: Nation & World / Page 6 Editorial / Page 7 Food Festival Follow us at... Trenton Food Truck Festival a tasty treat The Signal See Features page 13 @tcnjsignal

$100,000 to mothball the farmhouse to ensure no further deterioration would occur while funds were being raised for its rehabilitation. A few years later, The Friends requested permission to seek a lease for the house. “We were denied that request and told that the College has no interest in supporting our effort to restore the house to its former glory, an effort that legally lies in their lap, not ours,” O’Neal said in a press release.

Opinions / Page 9

see GREEN page 2 Features / Page 13

According to an email sent to College faculty, staff and students on Monday, Sept. 21, junior Daniel Thielke died on Saturday, Sept. 19. Thielke, a computer science major and resident of Hillsborough, N.J., was in his fourth year at the College. “Our TCNJ family has faced a number of losses recently,” President R. Barbara Gitenstein wrote in an email announcing his death. Thielke’s family has not shared any additional details and has requested that arrangements remain private, according to Gitenstein’s email. The College first sent out an email and made phone calls announcing Thielke’s death to faculty and students in the computer science department prior to sending out the campus-wide email announcement, see GRIEF page 3

Arts & Entertainment / Page 16

Sports / Page 28

WIRED 24-hour play competition a hit for students

Ice Hockey Lions dominate season opener

See A&E page 16

See Sports page 28


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