Spring '24 Issue No. 9

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The Signal

Vol. LIII, No. 9

https://www.tcnjsignalnews.com/

February 16, 2024

Serving The College of New Jersey since 1885

Blueberry Kitchen + Tap celebrates its grand opening College implements mandatory safety training for students By Rebecca Heath News Editor Tristan Weisenbach Managing Editor

Photo by Parisa Burton

The restaurant’s Tacos of the Town and Signature Cheeseburger. By Parisa Burton Staff Writer Blueberry Kitchen + Tap celebrated its long-awaited grand opening on Feb. 12. The restaurant experienced an influx of visitors from open to close, echoing the campus’s eagerness to try this new spot and receive the generous 40% off promotion. “The name ‘Blueberry’ actually comes from the state fruit,” said A.K. Patel, one of the restaurant owners. The grand opening has been in the works for quite some time now, as preparations have taken longer than anticipated for everyone. “Preparations for the opening have been insane,” said Brenna O’Leary, frontof-house shift manager. “The owners have been working on opening this place for six

months or so at least.” A lot of students were frustrated with long wait times, and others were denied service due to the large turnout. “​I always feel it’s better to give no service than bad service,” Patel said. Patel emphasized that he wants the customers to have the best possible experience, which is why the restaurant could not accommodate every single customer on opening day. Unfortunately for some, the grand opening was disappointing and did not meet their expectations. According to Maddy Smith, senior interactive multimedia major, the soda machines weren’t up and running yet when she went. “Some of our food was cold and it was clear they were short staffed,” Smith said.

As a new restaurant, it’s going to take some time before everything is up to par, and before everyone is completely satisfied with the service. Sabrina Farrell, a senior criminology major, said she would like to give the restaurant more time to work out the kinks before recommending it to others. According to O’Leary, it’s not so much an understaffing issue as it is a training deficiency. “We’re all brand new and learning how to work together, how to work in this building, use the computers and other general stuff,” O’Leary said. The restaurant is currently hiring for bartenders, servers, line cooks, kitchen help and an assistant manager.

The College released its first mandatory online safety training for students on Feb. 12 after it received requests from students and faculty for additional safety resources. Vice President of Operations Sharon Blanton announced the training, which is also mandatory for all College employees, in an email to the campus community on Feb. 7. The safety program consists of four courses for students and employees to complete by March 29. “This training initiative is a crucial step towards equipping each member of our community with the knowledge and skills necessary to respond effectively to potential emergencies and maintain a secure campus environment,” Blanton wrote in the Feb. 7 email. Awareness of campus safety protocols was called into question last semester after both students and faculty told The Signal that they largely lacked knowledge of what to do in various threatening situations, such as an active shooter or extreme weather event.

see TRAINING page 2

see BLUEBERRY page 3

Civil liberties group critical ‘TWO YEARS GONE’: Amplifying Ukrainian voices through art of TCNJ speech policies By Matthew Kaufman Managing Editor

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a civil rights organization that advocates for free speech on college campuses, gave the College a “yellow light” rating in its 2024 Spotlight on Speech Codes and said that some of its policies might be unconstitutional. FIRE, as the organization is better known, places schools in one of three categories based on their protection of free speech. “Yellow light” schools, where the College ranked, “maintain policies that could too easily be applied to su ppress prote cted speech or maintain policies that, while clearly restricting freedom of speech, restrict relatively narrow categories of speech,” according to the report. “Red light” schools, the most severe category, “maintain at least one policy that both clearly and substantially restricts freedom of speech” or do not have publicly

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accessible speech codes. “Green light” schools do not have any policies that threaten free expression. The College originally received a red light rating, but FIRE changed the classification to a yellow light after The Signal requested more clarification on the reasoning behind the rating. In an email to The Signal, Laura Beltz, FIRE’s director of policy reform, said that a yellow light classification is still concerning, because the College is a public school that must abide by the First Amendment. “While these are more vague or narrow restrictions than the red light policies,” Beltz said, “yellow light policies are unconstitutional at a public institution like TCNJ and could too easily be applied to restrict speech.”

NEWS

Menstral products

TCNJ rejects an SG proposal to implement menstral products in bathrooms on campus.

see FIRE page 3 page 2

OPINIONS

Dating apps

By Riley Eisenbeil Staff Writer

The College’s Art Gallery recently unveiled its newest installation entitled “TWO YEARS GONE.” The group exhibition, curated by Dylan Siegel, features pieces from five contemporary Ukrainian artists who, through a variety of mediums, reflect on the psychological and physical stress of the ongoing war in Ukraine as it reaches its two-year mark. The hope is that it will start conversations, raise awareness and overall commemorate the war, explained Art Director Margaret Pezalla-Granlund while introducing a panel discussion on opening day. The collection, featuring artists Katerina Ganchak, Maya Hayuk, Maria Kulikovska, Sasha Kurmaz and Anton Varga, has been in the works for about a year, Siegel shared. “[This collection] is about a feeling and it’s about asking people to keep paying attention,” Siegel said in an interview during the reception. “As is the nature of the news cycle, with anything, things fall out of the public consciousness — it page 5

Finding a romantic partner isn’t always as easy as it looks. Enter social media apps. The solution for all your dating woes – or so we thought.

VALENTINE’S DAY

Signals of love

doesn’t actually matter how important they are, it just happens.” Siegel and Jack Chase, a photographer currently dedicated to providing direct humanitarian aid relief in Ukraine, established the pop-up gallery “Sonya Gallery: A Sunflower Network Project” in October 2022. Since its start, they have curated exhibitions to raise funds for Ukraine, resulting in the direct delivery of $3.5 million in crucial humanitarian aid to date. This installation is a continuation of their work. To choose which artists would be highlighted, Siegel explained that it involved a blend of personal connections and thematic considerations related to the war. Kurmaz’s pieces capture emotions from within Ukraine, while Kulikovska and Ganchak’s works offer feelings from abroad. Additionally, Varga, Hayuk and some of Kulikovska’s contributions provide historical reflections on the past decade of conflict.

see GALLERY page 12 page 9

Valentine’s Day messages submitted by members of hte campus community!

SPORTS

Coach Goldsmith

page 16

Head coach Matthew Goldsmith and the Lions will head into the NJAC tournament looking to bring the title back to Ewing for the first time since 2020.


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