Coffee screamer!
HOLMAN...Haunted?
ink’s Halloween coffeehouse featured horror stories read by costumed poets.
Was Holman Hall built on an Indian burial ground? The Signal’s Brianna Gunter investigates the rumors. See Arts & Entertainment page 19 See Features page 17 The College of New Jersey Student Newspaper since 1885
tcnjsignal.net
November 2, 2011
No. 9
Vol. CXXXV.
Fiocco lawsuit update: Female engineers reach all-time high College’s motion hinges on judge By Matt Huston Editor-in-Chief
The future of a threeyear-old civil suit against the College by the parents of John Fiocco Jr. rests on an impending decision by the case judge. The Fioccos are suing the College for liability in the death of their son, a freshman who disappeared from his Wolfe Hall dorm in 2006 and whose body was discovered in a Pennsylvania landfill weeks later. The College has motioned for a summary judgment to end the case. If Superior Court Judge Pedro Jimenez decides to grant the College’s motion, on grounds of charitable immunity and lack of evidence of the College’s liability, the Fiocco suit could end without a trial. However,
FIOCCO
there is no set date for his answer. “When the judge issues his decision is when the judge issues his decision,” said Terrie Cook, the judge’s team leader. At the Oct. 21 motion hearing, the Fioccos’ lawyers opposed the motion, supporting their theory that a College alumnus, referred to as John Doe, was enabled by lax security measures to enter Wolfe Hall and murder Fiocco. The alumnus allegedly had a history of mental illness, was on campus the night of Fiocco’s disappearance and told people he was
involved in his death, the lawyers said. “There’s still a lot of missing parts to this,” Jimenez told the attorneys, regarding the uncertainty of the events, stating that the theme of the case is “We just don’t know.” “The one thing we know for certain is that Mr. Fiocco is no longer with us,” he said. The court’s report that a hearing was scheduled for Nov. 18 was the result of a clerical error, according to Cook. A trial in the civil suit is scheduled to begin on Nov. 7, though Cook noted that there is a pending request to adjourn the proceedings. If the judge rules against the motion for summary judgment, the trial date may be rescheduled for January, she said.
By Laura Herzog News Editor
“Womengineers” at the College have surpassed a landmark. This year, 122 women are College engineering majors — representing an all-time high of 21.8 percent of total engineering majors at the school, according to official data from the Center for Institutional Effectiveness’s Office of Institutional Research to The Signal. By 2010, the College had also more than doubled the number of women enrolled in engineering in 2001, according to the College’s 2010-2011 Factbook for Undergraduate Enrollment, compiled by the CIE. In 2001, only 57 women were engineering majors, versus 116 women in 2010, according to the Factbook. “We’re bursting at the seams,” said Dean of the School of Engineering Steven Schreiner. “We’ve seen tremendous enrollment and applicant growth over the years, but as you do that, you have to be careful that you’re being selective in a way that is not harmful to diversity … make sure we don’t bias against the female population.” The College’s School of Engineering appears to be doing just that. It is advancing past national averages for gender, albeit in small numbers. In 2010, College women made up about 20.8 percent of the engineering majors within the school — compared with the 18.1 percent
Illustration by Mark Dy
The number of women in engineering majors is double what it was in 2001.
of U.S. women who graduated with engineering bachelor’s degrees in 2010, according to the latest available statistics from the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE). Based on total enrollment in the school, 557 students in 2010, this means that about 17 more women are enrolled in the school at the College than would be expected based on national averages. The School of Engineering’s latest ratio has come far since it experienced a decade-low percent see WOMEN page 5
Fewer decals sold, but parking issues persist By Kelly Johnson Copy Editor
For commuters at the College, it’s a repetitious cycle of circling the parking lots in hopes of snagging a relatively close spot and having to avoid the speed racers as they enter Lot 6, whipping around the tight corners of the garage, sometimes without looking. Commuters often arrive late to class after searching for a free parking spot. Every year, whether or not there are enough available parking spaces seems to be a topic of debate. For junior math major Nadia Pasynkova, parking at the College is “a pain in the ass.” As a commuter from Bordentown — about a 30-minute drive from the College — Pasynkova has had several semesters’ worth of experience parking at the College, and her conclusion has remained the same. “Parking is an issue,” she said.
There should be some relief for drivers this year, however, as fewer decals were sold than in previous years, according to Stacy Schuster, executive director of College Relations. A total of 2,968 parking decals have been sold so far this year, 505 less than the 3,473 decals sold last year, Schuster said, adding that there are a total of 2,915 spots for commuters and residents. According to Schuster, although there are more decals sold than there are spots available, the spaces do not get filled up because not all students are on campus at the same time. “There are spaces available in Lots 5 and 6 at almost all times during the day,” Schuster said in an email interview, noting that Campus Police takes hourly surveys of parking lot occupancy. According to several commuters, availability of parking spots depends almost entirely on the time of day. A matter of 10-15 minutes can
Tom O’Dell / Photo Editor
Depending on the time of day, commuters often have to fight for spaces, several campus commuters said.
be the difference between a lucky spot on the second floor and a less-lucky one on the roof. Pasynkova knows this all too well, as her first three semesters consisted of afternoon classes, forcing her into Lot 6, where she would drive row by row and “spend 15 minutes until (she) found some parking.” However, she has had 8 a.m. classes these past two semesters and has been able to snag decent spaces since the College is not as crowded
early in the morning. Junior civil engineering majors Parth Shah and Kunal Jani share a similar experience with parking at the College, particularly in Lot 6. With 10 a.m. classes, Jani has “no choice but to park in Lot 6,” and even then is forced to park at least on the third floor, he said. Jani predicts that parking will become more of an issue next year with the closing of Cromwell and encourages the College to “take into
account how many decals they’re selling.” Shah said he believes that the combined number of residents and commuters parking in Lot 6 is much of the problem with space availability. According to Pasynkova, animosity lingers between residents and commuters, as residents take up the majority of the first-floor parking spaces and often leave their cars in the lots overnight, leaving commuters searching for spots on the second
Squeaky clean start
Students’ share of work
Asian art-sation
The College’s swim teams are undefeated so far.
Part one of two: What are campus jobs really like?
Far East gallery wows crowd in Art Building.
See Sports page 24
See Features page 13
See A&E page 21
through fourth floors. “Those who live on campus obviously don’t need a car on a daily basis,” Pasynkova, who pointed out that residents running late simply have to run to class, whereas commuters “have to find parking and then run.” While this seems to be the opinion of many commuters, Schuster said the perceived shortage of spaces is more likely because cars are parking in the lots without having purchased decals.
INSIDE Nation & World Editorials Opinions Features Arts & Entertainment Fun Stuff Sports
7 9 11 13 19 23 28