The Signal: Spring '16 No. 5

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

Serving The College of New Jersey community since 1885

February 24, 2016

‘Vagina Monologues’ returns to campus Series of speeches showcase women’s sexuality

Students recite monologues from the off-Broadway play, ‘The Vagina Monologues.’

By Thomas Infante Staff Writer

Brave, charismatic and angry are not three words that are traditionally considered synonymous with “vagina.” However,

“The Vagina Monologues” is far from a normal production. The show’s raw language and thought-provoking subject matter forced the audience to think about the vagina in both a literal and a symbolic sense, and the result is quite different than

Heiner Fallas / Photo Assistant

any other theater experience. The Women in Learning and Leadership (WILL) program produced the annual show, which was performed during the weekend of Friday, Feb. 19, to Sunday, Feb. 21, in Mayo Concert Hall.

“The Vagina Monologues” has seen much exposure and success since its conception by playwright Eve Ensler in 1996. Ensler has received multiple awards for the script, which has since been adapted into an off-Broadway play, as well as a televised version produced by HBO. “Ensler spoke to over 200 women to get the ideas for the show,” said freshman women’s and gender studies major and “Vagina Monologues” performer Molly Knapp. “The identities are kept anonymous so that the stories are more relatable to the audience.” The show featured a variety of accounts with highly varied subject matters. Some of the monologues were lighthearted and silly, while others were dark and depressing. One of the funniest monologues, titled “The Flood,” detailed the story of an elderly woman who wasn’t particularly proud of her vagina. Senior English and self-design publishing and editing double major Amanda Acebal performed the monologue. see MONOLOGUES page 14

Forum promotes Professor wins third sabbatical prize diversity at College By Chelsea LoCascio News Editor

By Tom Ballard Opinions Editor How can the College increase inclusion and diversity on campus? That was the question students, faculty and College administrators tackled in the first inclusion and diversity forum held this semester by Student Government (SG) on Tuesday, Feb. 16. “The goal (of the forum) is to get a greater sense of experiences, thoughts, suggestions and concerns students, faculty and staff have,” said sophomore deaf education and history double major Priscilla Nuñez, the SG vice president for Equity and Diversity. “Some students may feel very safe and included at (the College) while others do not, and these series of fora help me and the Chief Diversity Officer of the College (Kerri Thompson Tillett) get a better insight as to short-term and long-term goals that the College as a whole can work toward.” Issues at the forum ranged from discussing racerelations on campus to how to better incorporate professors into campus life at the College. Students praised the College Union Board (CUB) for what they considered to be a more diverse collection of events that appeals to a wider variety of students. “I’m really happy with CUB’s programing as of late,” said sophomore marketing major Baldween Casseus, president of Haitian Student Association. “I feel see FORUM page 3

INDEX: Nation & World / Page 7

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Over the course of 14 years, Matthew Bender scoured sources in archives across Tanzania, France, Britain and America to piece together an intricate story. He lived in Tanzania for a year and visited four summers thereafter to roam the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, seeking the natives’ wisdom. He dedicated nine and a half of those years to transform his research into a comprehensive manuscript on the source of life: water. From his childhood on a farm in Indiana to his adulthood spent in classrooms of higher learning, Bender’s interest in agriculture shifted to water, specifically how particular populations perceive this vital resource. Now an associate professor of history at the College, Bender has dedicated most of his adult life to researching the past 150 years of an indigenous Chagga-speaking population that lived on Mount Kilimanjaro for the last 800 to 1,000 years. He also studies how outsiders have influenced the Chagga’s view of water, which comprises his manuscript “Water Brings No Harm: Knowledge, Power and the Struggle for the Waters of Kilimanjaro.” As the third recipient of the College’s Gitenstein-Hart Sabbatical Prize, an endowment set up by College President R. Barbara Gitenstein and her husband Donald Hart, Bender can now ensure the manuscript will come to fruition with this stipend. “What I’m interested in doing is finding out how the people of the mountain are able to negotiate the ideas that are brought from the outside in order to preserve their control over the resource,” Bender said. “The kind of knowledge that outsiders bring in is not just about control of the resource, but it’s also about the very fundamental nature of it. So who owns it, what its religious

Editorial / Page 8

Opinions / Page 9

Features / Page 14

Photo courtesy of Matthew Bender

Bender’s research is conducted in Tanzania.

significance is (and) what its capacity to bring harm is.” According to Bender, the outsiders that have tried to shape the locals’ views on water include Swahili, European explorers, the independent Tanzanian state and currently, climate scientists. “(I) look at how this mountain population tries to make sense of outside ideas, how they incorporate ideas that are useful to them and how they manage to reject ideas that they find to be incompatible with their way of thinking,” Bender said. The Chagga have been able maintain their own views of water despite these outside influences, he added. According to Bender, the outsiders that have tried to see PRIZE page 6 Arts & Entertainment / Page 17

Sports / Page 28

Beautiful Reflections Students write body positive messages

CUB Alt: Comedy Show Student comedians perform stand up

Basketball Lions win first game of NJAC tournament

See Features page 14

See A&E page 17

See Sports page 28


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