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Happy Nowruz!

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WIRED up

The Persian New Year, or ‘Nowruz’ was celebrated with food and dance last Thursday.

In 24 hours, four one-act plays were written, produced, directed, constructed, cast, propped, costumed and performed.

See Features, page 11

See Arts & Entertainment, page 12

The College of New Jersey Student Newspaper since 1885

March 24, 2010

No. 9.

Vol. CXXXII.

Student Activity Community joins College to fight cancer Fund runs out

By Kelly Johnson Staff Writer

The Student Activity Fund (SAF) has exhausted its usual budget for the 2009-2010 academic year, causing concern and curiosity among student organizations.

In an e-mail interview, Michael Stolar, executive director of Student Finance Board (SFB) and senior finance major, shed light on the subject.

According to Stolar, the SAF funds increased by almost 50 percent the 2008-2009 academic year, and the board had the need to “push clubs to come up and request events.”

The College’s endowment had gone up by 27 percent at this time, according to a report by the National Association of College and University Business Officers.

This year however, SFB and SAF funds were affected by the recession, when a three percent cap on school spending increases was established in mid 2009.

Many clubs have been under the impression SFB again had an increase and came up with larger requests, he said.

According to Stolar, the SAF funds begin to dwindle around this time every year. However, of the four years Stolar has been in SFB, he believes this is “the first year where we have actually run out of money.”

Stolar said he perceives this as a good thing because “it shows both the administration and students that things are happening with the SAF and that not only are we able to get an increase, but we have the structure that allows a great deal see SAF page 2

Tim Lee / Photo Editor

Relay for Life participants walked the track all night to raise money for cancer treatment and research.

The most students participated this year, according to the director of the event, Christine Sagge.

By Amanda Pini Staff Writer Relay for Life kicked off Friday night in the College’s Recreation Center. Six hundred and twenty three people, divided into 50 teams, from the College and local community attended the event to raise money for cancer research and treatment. sponsored by the American Cancer Society.

Relay for Life is an overnight walk-a-thon with games, food, performances and ceremonies. One member of each team has to be on the track at all times. According to the American Cancer Society’s Web site, Relay for Life began in 1985 in Tacoma, Washington, and today is seen all over the country.

At the College, the cause hit close to home for one of the

schools top raising teams, Sigma Sigma Sigma’s Sigmarella.

One of their sisters, junior elementary education major JoAnna Wilson, is battling cancer herself. Wilson relapsed from Ewing’s Sarcoma, a rare bone/soft tissue disease that is most common in teenagers, again when she was 20 years old.

“Having cancer has helped me live in the moment and stay true to myself.” Wilson said, who is also involved in Colleges against Cancer. “You can just see the impact and how much (Relay) means to the American Cancer Society.”

“It hits all of us as a sisterhood personally,” Rachel Dolci, sophomore education major, said.

“It’s a great way to bond with our team while raising awareness,” Matt Bartsch, a sophomore accounting major, see RELAY page 2

False conviction leads to friendship

By Juliana Fidler News Assistant

Photo courtesy of Sonia Aneja

Matt and Kim join spring concert

The third artist for the spring concert, officially titled “Spring Music Mash-up,” will be Matt and Kim, according to Raquel Fleig, director of the College Union Board (CUB). Fleig said CUB is currently looking into having a concession area and outdoor restrooms to make students more comfortable. The April 29 show also features Asher Roth and Girl Talk. Tickets are $10 and go on sale on April 7th.

A case of mistaken identity over two decades ago changed two lives forever and resulted in an unlikely friendship. Jennifer Thompson-Cannino and Ronald Cotton, authors of “Picking Cotton: Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption,” spoke to a full Kendall Hall on Monday March 15 about the wrongful conviction that brought them together.

The event included a book signing session and small group discussions following the main presentation, which centered on Thompson’s incorrect identification of Cotton as the man who raped her, the power of forgiveness and their work to reform the legal system.

Both Thompson and Cotton said they believed Cotton’s race and socioeconomic status played a role in his conviction, as racism was prominent in their North Carolina community.

Thompson began her story with July 1984, when a man broke into her house and raped her. A college student at the time, Thompson said

Photo by Jess Davis

Jennifer Thompson-Cannino (left) and Ronald Cotton (right) sign their book at Kendall Hall.

she did not know whether the man would kill her or not, but she told herself to remain calm.

“I remember making myself stay connected, because it was very important that I know what this monster looked like,” she said.

She managed to escape to a neighbor’s house and was taken to the hospital, where she learned another woman had been raped by the same man, she said.

“I could taste the hate on

my tongue,” she said. “I was determined to make this man go to prison forever.”

She went to the police station and did a composite sketch.

“I put together the face of the man who had destroyed my life,” she said. The sketch was printed in the newspaper, and a woman called in and reported Cotton as resembling the man in the drawing.

LGBT rights and God

Business school honored

New art exhibit opened

Politics forum examines LBGT rights and religion.

See page 3

BusinessWeek ranks school in top 100 business programs.

See page 3

‘Homespun’ art exhibit features different local artists.

See page 19

see COTTON page 2

INSIDE

Nation & World Editorials Opinions Features Arts & Entertainment Sports

5 7 9 11 16 28

page 2 The Signal March 24, 2010

Relay / Good Neighbors raise 4,000 dollars

continued from page 1

said. Bartsch participated with other members of Alpha Phi Omega, the College’s community service organization.

There were many events to keep the participants occupied during the 24-hour duration, including a musical performance, dodgeball and poker tournaments, a hypnotist, a Relay pageant, Relay Idol/Karaoke and a Luminaria Ceremony to honor those affected by the disease, among other events.

“This year we have the most students ever (at the College) participating,” Christine Sagge, director of the event and of special events and community initiatives for the American Cancer Society, said. “(Everyone) is very supportive and generous despite the tough economy and everyone is very enthusiastic.”

Sagge has been participating in Relay for Life in one form or another since she was in eighth grade.

“I do what I love,” she said.

The top raising team this year, Good Neighbors for Life, a team sponsored by State Farm, raised nearly 4,000 dollars.

In second was Sigmarella, with nearly 3,000 and in third a team entitled Motley Crew from Wissahickon Valley, Pa., with twenty 2,600 dollars.

Tim Lee / Photo Editor

Students from various organizations participated in the Relay for Life to raise awareness and money for cancer treatment.

Cotton / Forgiving a rapist continued from page 1

.

Photo by Elizabeth Yacone The Student Government Association discussed dealing with the current budget cuts to the College.

Budget cuts inspire lobbying

By Emily Brill Arts & Entertainment Assistant

In response to the recent budget cuts to New Jersey state colleges, the College’s Student Government Association (SGA) will focus much of its energy on lobbying this semester.

Olaniyi Solebo, SGA’s vice president of legal and governmental affairs and sophomore political science and economics double major, verified that his organization has received a list of legislators who se primary concern is budgeting matters. He assured students that dealing with these concerns proactively are important to the SGA, as the College’s disintegrating budget has left students and faculty, to say the least, rattled.

“We have a list of identified legislators we can lobby, the ones who deal with budget issues,” Solebo said. “We are on the ball on this, and we’re getting this going.”

He reiterated some statistics to the general body, ensuring the gravity of the situation hasn’t been forgotten as spring welcomes the organization’s more lighthearted events, such as senior week, finals fest and the SGA semi-formal.

“The tuition and grant tag lost about $10 million. EOF lost $3 million. This will add a lot of burden to middleclass and lower-middle-class families,” Solebo said. “So what does that mean?

It literally changes the paradigm of what was expected for next year. I don’t think anyone I’ve talked to knew what was happening … This loss isn’t something students should take lying down.”

Despite the education cuts casting a considerable shadow over Wednesday’s meeting, SGA senators and executive board members still introduced additional proposals.

Gina Lauterio, vice president of academic affairs and junior political science major, noted that the College’s GPA calculator, available on its website, is back up and running.

“It’s great for scheduling,” Lauterio said. She also informed the general body that a survey about PAWS, the College’s student class-management service, will be sent out at some point over the next several weeks. “Now is the time we can get PAWS changed the most to reflect what students want,” Lauterio said.

Jen Hill, vice president of student services and senior women and gender studies major, apologetically noted that the student services committee was unable to attain approval for HBO programming in the Brower Student Center. However, to make up for this, Hill hopes to look into showing marathons of certain HBO shows in the building from time to time. She also had news about the College’s connectivity that had the general body abuzz.

“We’re working on getting wireless for you,” Hill said, speaking of plans the student services committee is working on to install wireless Internet throughout campus, not just in certain “hot spots” such as the library, Eickhoff Dining Hall and certain academic buildings.

She encouraged students to visit the committee’s newly established Facebook fanpage, Student Services Committee of the SGA, for updates.

Thompson then picked Cotton out of a photo lineup and a physical lineup, convinced he was the man who raped her.

“I absolutely wanted him to die,” she said.

After two trials (the case was appealed but the second time the other victim identified Cotton as her rapist as well), Cotton was convicted and sent to prison with two life sentences.

“I couldn’t believe it,” he said of the guilty verdict. “I dropped my head, pinched my arm.

It felt like a dream.”

While in prison, Cotton saw the O.J. Simpson trial on television, and asked for a DNA test. His request was granted. Thompson, who was now married and had triplets, readily agreed to the test, she said, because she believed it would reinforce Cotton’s guilt.

It was this test that proved Cotton innocent and Bobby Poole, the real rapist, guilty. After spending 11 years behind bars, Cotton was finally free.

“I was absolutely paralyzed with guilt,” Thompson said.

When Thompson finally reached out to

Cotton to meet, he forgave her.

“Ronald Cotton taught me that night something I had been trying to learn in church my whole life: grace and forgiveness,” Thompson said. She was eventually able to forgive Poole — “not for Bobby Poole,” she said, “but for me.”

During the question-and-answer session, a student asked Cotton how he was able to forgive Thompson for the 11 years he lost.

“I have a special relationship with the good Lord,” he said. “I asked Him to reach down and pull this hate out of me.”

He said his family’s support also helped him through.

Cotton is now married and has a 12-yearold daughter, and he and Thompson are good friends.

Cotton and Thompson “reminded us of the strength of the human spirit,” said Patrick Donohue, director of the Bonner Center, which helped sponsor the event.

“It’s easy to forget on the college campus that some women don’t feel safe,” he said. “and some men and women don’t get a fair shake from the system, and they reminded us of that.”

Tim Lee / Photo Editor

SFB approved the College Democrats request for $810 to bring Trustfall to the College.

SAF / alcohol awareness band

continued from page 1

Throughout the coming weeks of the semester, SFB will continue funding events with wash back money from SAF funded events that did not utilize all of their allocated funds. The College Union Board for example, had trouble planning their Spring Concert and was unable to book their ideal artist.

As a result, $25,000 is now being “washed back” for SFB to use for other upcoming requests.

The Student Finance Board (SFB) allocated the College Democrats $810 to bring the alcohol awareness band, Trustfall, to the College at its March 17 meeting.

Many of Trustfall’s songs tell stories of

the dangers of drinking and driving. Several members of the band actually experienced such a tragedy after a family member killed someone while driving under the influence.

“We think that alcohol awareness is a really important thing, especially on college campuses,” Brian Block, president of College Democrats and junior political science major, said.

There was some concern that the Inter Greek Council will be holding a drunken driving lecture within the same week, but many thought that attendance would not be hindered because this event will be in the form of a concert performance.

The event will take place from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. in the Brower Student Center Food Court on Friday, April 9.

March 24, 2010 The Signal page 3

Rethinking the family Business school honored Game design ranked in top 50

By Kelly Johnson Staff Writer

Tim Lee / Photo Editor

Professsor Michele Tarter (left) and professor Juda Bennett discussed their families.

By Jonathan Schwartz Correspondent Adoption and sperm donations were a few of the primary topics addressed by proud parents sharing how they brought a child into their family in a non-traditional way in “The Neo-Family: a TCNJ Panel” on Wednesday March 17.

Ellen Friedman, professor of women and gender studies and English, moderated the discussion which was held by women and gender studies and English faculty members Mark Kiselica, Michele Tarter and Juda Bennett. The panel members shared the often painful, but miraculous experiences with bringing a child or another child into their family unit.

Kiselica, a father of two sons, spoke about his desire to adopt a girl. He said it was his wife’s dream of having a daughter that propelled him to think about adoption.

“God, whatever child you send us … that is going to be my daughter,” Kiselica said.

Kiselica’s journey took him through Kazakhstan to a daycare where he found Sasha, his soon-to-be-adopted daughter.

“You don’t have a child because you need love,” he said. “You have a child because you have love to give.”

Tarter told the story of how she was looked for a sperm donor.

“It’s like you’re shopping … it’s bizarre,” Tarter said, explaining what she went through when looking for donors on an internet site. She said she was looking for what would essentially be her baby’s biological father.

Life for her was no longer about searching for a spouse to have a child with, but wanting to experience the joy of motherhood all the same, she said. She said her continued fight to get her child took her seven years, but it made her feel “liberated as a woman.” However, Tarter said the journey was not without stumbling blocks. She faced opposition from many of those close to her, and made the decision to change doctors far into it.

“It was a miracle story … he told me to never give up, never give up hope,” Tarter said about her doctor. “This is a story about believing in possibilities.”

Bennett introduced his personal experience when he said his son has “two dads who love him dearly.” Bennett later showed the audience pictures of his son, and discussed how finding a surrogate mother as an egg donor proved to be a challenging experience.

“We have real families,” Bennett said.

“We have real love.”

The College has recently been recognized in both BusinessWeek and The Princeton Review for the undergraduate school of Business as well as for the undergraduate institutions for game design.

The College ranked 65th out of 111 schools on BusinessWeek’s list, which is determined by credentials and a survey administered to senior business majors and corporate recruiters. The College is one of two schools included in the survey that specifically focuses on undergraduate business

education. According to BusinessWeek’s list, the median starting salary of business graduates from the College is $50,000.

Dean of Business, William Keep, said he and his staff are “very pleased to be recognized,” and that “our rigor in the classroom can translate to a more confident and successful graduate.”

President R. Barbara Gitenstein, said that she is personally “very proud of (the) recognition,” and that “it validates (the) commitment to quality undergraduate education”.

The College has also been recognized as one of

the 50 best undergraduate schools for game design study by The Princeton Review, whose project is in conjunction with Gamepro.

Approximately 500 schools in the United States and Canada were eligible for the recognition based on curriculum, faculty, facilities, scholarships, financial aid and careers.

The College is the only recognized school from New Jersey.

“I am very proud of what our faculty has accomplished,” Gitenstein said.

The list will be featured in Gamepro’s April 2010 issue.

Sink damaged in Norsworthy

By Alyssa Mease Production Manager

There is no further information at this time.

An iPod Nano was taken from an office between 8:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Tuesday March 16 in the Biology building.

The owner left his iPod Nano and a computer bag on his desk and walked out of the office several times without closing the door.

No other items were taken, and there is nothing further to report at this time. …

A sink in the first floor men’s bathroom was partially pulled off of the wall between 6 p.m. Wednesday March 17 and 8:30 a.m. Thursday March 18 in Norsworthy Hall.

Did you know?

About half of all thefts that have occurred at the College since Jan. 1 have been the result of items being left unattended. Always keep an eye on your personal belongings, and never leave them unattended for any period of time.

God, gay rights and marriage: where we are

By Aaron Creuz Correspondent

It was a packed room at the politics forum on Thursday March 18 on God, gay rights and marriage.

Women and gender studies assistant professor Michelle Stecker explained the turnout.

“If you put God and (LGBT) together, you’re always going to have an audience.”

Stecker is an ordained Presbyterian minister, attorney, professor and she is also a homosexual. To initiate discussion amongst the room’s many occupants, Stecker distributed a sheet of six scenarios to analyze, each involving a complex legal issue involving gay, lesbian and transgender relationships.

Stecker also provided a map detailing the legal status afforded to same sex couples in different states across America. What would happen if a man’s domestic partner died in Ohio without specifically including him in his will as the heir to the home they shared for years? Would the transgender woman from Texas have the right to sue the doctor whose neglect led to her husband’s death in a state which would not legally recognize their union?

Though Stecker provided explanations to what the outcome would likely be to each of the scenarios, she informed the audience that many of the laws associated with such cases were often loosely written.

“No one really knows what a civil union is. What do we even call ourselves?” she said.

In a country divided over the issue, one couple’s rights can be voided once they cross a state line.

Stecker pointed out how federal legislation under the Defense of Marriage Act allowed for such divisions to occur when it gave states the right to ignore marriages legally sanctioned elsewhere. The law also deprived homosexual unions of the 1,138 federal rights afforded to heterosexual marriages.

Tim Lee / Photo Editor

Professor Michelle Stecker discussed gay rights in relation to religion and laws surrounding marriage.

Many Americans feel that homosexual unions should be illegal on religious grounds, citing their belief that the Bible and other religious works clearly list such acts as sinful. However, Stecker took an opposite approach.

Through her studying of the Bible as a minister, she came across numerous passages that encouraged marriage in various forms other than between a single man and woman. Such passages talked of religious figures of the past endorsing polygamy, incest, rape and extramarital affairs. In response, she restated her belief that marriage is not an issue of religion.

“Marriage is a civil contract, part of secular law. If a Church wants to attach blessings to it then that’s fine but bottom line, it’s the law,” she said.

Stecker stressed how it is impacting American citizens personally involved with the struggle. Same — sex

spouses are often not allowed to visit their partner in the hospital if an emergency situation arises.

Stecker also said it is the young children of these unions who feel the hardship involved in situations who they feel inhibit their rights.

“We’re beginning to see a lot of court cases brought forth by children because there is a prevalent social stigma placed on unmarried parents in the eyes of their kids,” she said.

Interest groups around the country continue to grow each day both for and against homosexual marriage and the rights which would follow, Stecker said. Some states have taken the initiative to guarantee that these rights be provided for while other states have taken the opposite approach. Stecker encouraged them to “pick up a history book or study their Bible more closely.”

page 4 The Signal March 24, 2010

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March 24, 2010 The Signal page 5

Nation & World

Health care gains start soon, bigger ones later WASHINGTON — The first changes under the new health care law will be easy to see and not long in coming — thereʼll be $250 rebate checks for seniors in the Medicare drug coverage gap, and young adults moving from college to work will be able to stay on their parentsʼ plans until they turn 26.

But the peace of mind the president promised is still a ways beyond the horizon, starting only in 2014. Insurers then will be barred from turning down people with medical problems, and the government will provide tax credits to help millions of working families buy coverage they canʼt afford now.

Health care overhaul will bring real change, but itʼs going to happen slowly.

President Barack Obama plans to sign the main legislation Tuesday in the White House East Room after a bitterly divided House approved it Sunday night.

Obamaʼs signature will start the Senate considering a package of changes the House also has approved. But the main overhaul will already be officially on the books.

“For people who have the greatest need, a number of things will start quickly and make a difference,” said DeAnn Friedholm of Consumers Union. For others, 2014 may seem like a long way away.

The main reason that Obamaʼs plan phases in slowly boils down to cost. The Medicare cuts and tax increases to finance the bill start early; the subsidies to help people purchase coverage come later. That combination keeps the cost of the overhaul under $1 trillion in its first decade, as Obama promised. Republicans call it an accounting gimmick — but in past years they also resorted to it.

Hereʼs a look at some of the major impacts for consumers: COMING SOON: Roughly a third of people in their 20s are uninsured, so allowing young adults to remain on their parentsʼ plans until 26 would be a

significant new option for families.

Adult children would not be able to stay on a parental plan if they had access to employer coverage of their own. But they could get married and still be covered. (Grandkids, however, would not qualify.) Regulations will clarify to what degree young adults have to be financially dependent on their parents.

Other reforms starting this year would prevent insurers from canceling the policies of people who get sick, from denying coverage to children with medical problems, and from putting lifetime dollar limits on a policy.

These changes will spread risks more broadly, but theyʼre also likely to nudge insurance premiums somewhat higher.

Obamaʼs plan also includes a new program for the most vulnerable — uninsured people who canʼt get coverage because of major medical problems. Itʼs intended to provide an umbrella of protection until the broad expansion of coverage takes effect in 2014.

The government will pump money into high-risk insurance pools in the states, making coverage available for people in frail health who have been uninsured for at least six months. The premiums could still be a stretch, but for people who need continuing medical attention, it could make a dramatic difference.

There is a catch, however. The $5 billion Obama has allocated for the program is unlikely to last until 2014. In fact, government experts have projected it could run out next year.

Among seniors, the plan will create both winners and losers. On the plus side, it gradually closes the dreaded “doughnut hole” prescription coverage gap, improves preventive care and puts a new emphasis on trying to keep seniors struggling with chronic diseases in better overall health.

But it also cuts funding for popular private insurance plans offered through the Medicare

AP Photo

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif. signs the Senate Health Reform bill on Monday March 22 on Capitol Hill in Washington.

Advantage program. About one-quarter of seniors have signed up for the plans, which generally offer lower out-of-pocket costs.

Thatʼs been possible because the government pays the plans about 13 percent more than it costs to cover seniors in traditional Medicare.

As the payments are scaled back, it could trigger an exodus from Medicare Advantage.

The prescription coverage gap will be totally closed in 2020. At that point, seniors will be responsible for 25 percent of the cost of their medications until Medicareʼs catastrophic coverage kicks in, dropping their copayments to 5 percent.

COMING LATER: Four breathtaking changes will happen simultaneously in 2014: 1) Insurers will be required to take all applicants. They wonʼt be able to turn down people in poor health, or charge them more.

2) Most Americans will be required to carry health insurance, either through an employer, a government program or by buying their own. Those who refuse will face

Darfur peacekeepers expect smooth elections CAIRO — The head of the U.N.-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur said Monday he expects Sudanʼs national elections next month to go smoothly in the region, despite fears of violence and calls for the pollʼs delay.

The April vote — Sudanʼs first multiparty elections in decades — will see voters cast ballots for a national president, a southern president, local and national assemblies as well as governors.

International observers and human rights groups have expressed concerns about security in Darfur for the vote amid reports of government repression against activists and campaigners throughout the country.

But Ibrahim Gambari, who took over the U.N.-African Union Mission In Darfur (UNAMID) in January, said he doesnʼt think security will be “a major consideration.”

“The security will be pretty good, if our experience in the registration period was anything to go by,” he told The Associated Press, after attending an international fundraising conference for Darfur in Cairo.

Gambari said an agreement between Sudan and Chad to stop supporting rebels in their respective countries, a general decline in fighting in Darfur and diminishing rebel control over territory have already had a positive impact on security.

He said UNAMIDʼs forces will help provide security for observers and the transportation of ballots in Darfur during the vote, which is slated to start April 11 and last three days.

Voter registration in Darfur has exceeded 60 percent so far, despite calls from a major rebel group for its supporters to boycott the elections. Another rebel group, which signed a cease-fire agreement with the government last month, had asked authorities to postpone the vote so it can organize its supporters.

Gambariʼs comments stand in contrast to those of Western rights groups, who have voiced concerns that a lack of a comprehensive cease-fire in Darfur and shortfalls in the election preparations could hamper the vote.

The New-York based Human Rights Watch said Monday that continued insecurity in Darfur will be an obstacle to holding free and fair elections while large areas of Darfur

fines from the IRS. 3) States will set up new insurance supermarkets for small businesses and people buying their own coverage, pooling together to get the kind of purchasing clout government workers have now.

4) Tax credits to help pay for premiums will start flowing to middle-class working families, and Medicaid will be expanded to cover more low income people. Households making up to four times the poverty level — about $88,000 for a family of four — will be eligible for assistance. But the most generous aid — including help with copayments and deductibles — will be for those on the lowerto-middle rungs of the income scale.

When all is said and done, the majority of working-age Americans and their families will still have employer-sponsored coverage, as they do now. But the number of uninsured will drop by more than half. Illegal immigrants would account for more than one-third of the remaining 23 million people without coverage.

News Bits Covered head-to-toe in black, a Saudi woman lashed out at hard-line Muslim clericsʼ harsh religious edicts in verse on live TV on Monday March 22 at a popular Arabic version of “American Idol” on which contestants recite their poetry rather than sing.

The Inter-American Development Bank said on Monday that it has agreed to forgive $479 million in debts owed by quake-ravaged Haiti.

AP Photo

In this June 14, 2006 file photo, Sudanese women take part in a military exercise in a show of power in the village of Gallap, Sudan. remain inaccessible to election officials and candidates.

It noted at least two cases in March when opposition party candidates were shot at and robbed.

In a report released last week, the Atlanta-based Carter Center, which has an election observer mission in Sudan, recommended a “minor” postponement in the vote.

The election commission, however, has said the vote will go ahead as planned. Sudanʼs president, Omar al-Bashir, is running for re-election despite having been indicted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity in Darfur.

The conflict in Darfur erupted in 2003 when African rebel groups took up arms against al-Bashirʼs government, complaining of marginalization and neglect. Sudanʼs authorities responded with a bruising counterinsurgency campaign. The U.N. estimates some 300,000 people have died during the conflict and some 2.7 million have been displaced.

The once mighty community activist group ACORN announced on Monday that it is folding amid falling revenues — six months after video footage emerged showing some of its workers giving tax tips to conservative activists posing as a pimp and prostitute.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon challenged world leaders on Monday to ensure all people have access to safe drinking water, saying more people die from unsafe water than from all forms of violence, including war.

Google Inc. stopped censoring the Internet for China by shifting its search engine off the mainland on Monday but said it will maintain other operations in the country.

Information from AP exchange

page 6 The Signal March 24, 2010

March 24, 2010 The Signal page 7

Editorial

Health reform reached, but with risk to dignity?

As the health care bill was being passed through the Senate, millions of Republicans simultaneously pounded their heads against the wall, my parents included. Call me a crazy, tree-hugging Democrat, but the new health care bill seems pretty good.

Let’s review the main points, shall we?

AP Photos 1. By 2014, insurance companies will not be able House Speaker Nancy Pelosi signed the health care bill on Monday March 22. to deny anybody for coverage.

2. By 2014, children up to the age of 26 will be able to stay on their parent’s plans, provided that they are not able to get insurance through their employer.

What do you think of the health 3. By 2014, the number of uninsured Americans care bill in the form that will be will drop by more than half.

“I never ever I understand that America is in a recession right signed by President Obama? thought in a million now, but can we really put a price on health? The years I would have benefits of this overhaul greatly outweigh the dis- • It’s about damn time. Finally the elderwritten a successful advantages. And while I understand that Ameri- ly and underprivileged people will have action-adventure, cans don’t want to shell out any more money than health care. but ‘WIRED’ took they already are, they can take solace in the fact that government tax credits will be made available • Dude, coverage until I’m 26? I’m couchus both out of our to working middle-class families. ing it until then … comfort zones and Health care debates have ruled elections for kept us on our toes • The Democrats and their president are years, but this is the first time something is reto create something ally being done about it. I’m not saying this bill ruining America. great.” is perfect, but it’s a start, and it is putting us one • The health care bill still exists? And it step ahead of where we were just last year, and that passed? Oh. I should watch the news …

— Senior alone is something to be proud of. communication As I watched C-SPAN Sunday night, I couldn’t cast your vote @ help but think how ridiculous all of the opponents studies major tcnjsignal.net (mainly Republicans) to the bill were acting. I unMarla Pachter derstand that that was really their last chance to about winning stop the bill from being passed, but they sounded “Best Writing” in like a bunch of barbarians.

“WIRED” There were people speaking out of turn, disobeytcnjsignal.net ing their allotted time to speak, and literally booTelephone: Mailing Address: ing others.

“It shows both the Production Rm - (609) 771-2424 The Signal These are professionals who we elected to repreBusiness Office - (609) 771-2499 c/o Brower Student Center administration and The College of New Jersey Fax: (609) 771-3433 sent us, and they could hardly respect one another.

P.O. Box 7718 E-mail: signal@tcnj.edu students that things The whole ordeal was more comical than producEwing, NJ 08628-0718 are happening tive, unfortunately.

Editorial Offices Donna Shaw with the SAF and Advisor Support the new bill or not, at least make sure Bobby Olivier Lauren Gurry you have all of your facts straight about it. Don’t that not only are Editor-in-Chief Jillian Polak Caroline Russomanno Arti Patel rely just on what you hear on the news, or what we able to get an Managing Editor Copy Editors your parents tell you. Actually take the time to increase, but we Brianna Gunter Brandon Gould read through it or at least the main points of it.

Katie Brenzel Sports Assistant have the structure News Editors Todd Petty There’s nothing worse than arguing with someone Garrett Rasko-Martinis Features Assistant that allows a great who doesn’t even have the right facts.

Sports Editor Juliana Fidler

The Weekly Poll:

— Alyssa Mease Production Manager

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 and Sports editors and the Business Manager, 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.

Jeffrey Roman Features Editor Matt Huston Arts & Entertainment Editor Hilarey Wojtowicz Opinions Editor Alyssa Mease Production Manager Tim Lee Photo Editor Kelli Plasket Senior Web Editor Cameron Prince Esteban Martinez Web Editors Laura Herzog Nation & World Editor Megan DeMarco Senior Editor

News Assistant Emily Brill Arts & Entertainment Assistant Tom O’Dell Abby Hocking Photo Assistants Business Office Diana Perez Business/Ad Manager

Quotes of the Week

deal of student organizations access to it.”

— Michael Stolar, executive director of the Student Finance Board, about the dwindling Student Activities Fund

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March 24, 2010 The Signal page 9

Opinions The Signal Coming back to ‘Trenton State’ says ...

By David Rago Class of 1977 and current student

Stop: wasting time, getting overwhelmed, worrying, getting mad about the little things in life.

Caution: sprained ligaments, fights with friends, tough games, excessive amounts of reading, tests, crazy weather changes.

Go: outside, buy a new outfit, play a board game with friends, celebrate Passover, eat fruit, to a school sporting event, join an intramural team, take a hike through the woods, for a run, on the tire swing, enjoy your life, be happy.

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.

Letters must be received by the Friday before publication and should not exceed 300 words.

The Signal reserves the right to edit letters for space and clarity.

All letters must be signed, with a phone number and address of the author. Requests to withhold the author’s name will be honored only if there is a legitimate reason.

All materials submitted become the sole property of The Signal. The editors reserve the right to edit or withhold all articles, letters & photographs.

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.

It had been nearly 34 years since I last attended a class at the College back in 1977, when I was unceremoniously booted due to academic underperformance. Facts were undeniable — 1.9 GPA, circumstances extenuating — young family, a two year old daughter and three jobs, and work was unfinished — 20 credits short of a degree.

I was pretty much done with school at that point and my chosen profession as an art and antiques dealer had no need of a framed certificate on the wall. But for reasons that remained unclear, I was confident, if allowed, I would eventually return.

I understood that, my first day back here, things were certain to be different beyond the new name, but most change manifests in unexpected ways. I saw immediately upon entering the class there were no longer ashtrays scattered on desk tops.

Students were toner, more fashion conscious, with smaller sideburns and more chin hair. The student center had been for years a sorry prefab with fluorescent lighting and a few sofas apparently stolen from a Motel Six. The College Union Board (CUB) is advertising a trip to see Jersey Boys in Manhattan, but we got to see the real jersey boys, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, right here in Kendall Hall.

Billy Joel, Bonnie Raitt, and others also played for about 10 bucks a shot. Trenton State was perceived as a party school, with a female to male ratio reportedly at eight to one. The Rathskeller was serving cheap beer and sangria because the drinking age was 18. Classic rock blared before it became classic rock. Serious learning was available, but you had to be here for that to happen (hence the 1.9 GPA).

Signal Spotlight

Bobby Olivier / Editor-in-Chief

Back in the 1970s, Trenton State College hosted various artists in Kendall Hall, including Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

The thing that had most changed in that 34 year hiatus was my expectations of college, if not myself. At some point I realized that, regardless of my regrettable academic accomplishments from the 1970s, something must have stuck. As an English lit major I was forced to read and write and attend classes with names like Descriptive Linguistics. In lieu of a degree I had at least learned to make friends with our mother tongue. In the land of the linguistically challenged (the art and antiques world), the one-handed typist is an exception. What? You can write?

Speak publically? Move to the front. And so was ushered the slow dawning awareness of just how good this college had been to me, and how unappreciative in return I had been of the privilege.

So why am I telling you this and, more to the point, why should you care? The

simple truth is that, through the fog of the occasional bong hit, is the fast approaching reality of the rest of your life, coming at you like a spider monkey. Every course you manage to make your own becomes another arrow in your quiver. You may never use it, but you will know it is there because you will feel the weight of it. The timeless truism of students is that we will never use most of this stuff anyway. Do not believe that for a second. Algebra? Try doing simple percentages without it. World history?

Only if you plan to travel. Descriptive Linguistics? Priceless.

Thoreau said that true knowledge is arriving some place again and being there for the first time. Or was that Emerson? Whatever. It is so good to be back at Trenton State.

The spring sports season is here at the College. Which team do you plan on supporting this season?

“Tennis.”

“Girlʼs lacrosse.”

“Softball.”

“Track.”

—Peter Bicescu, freshman biology major

—Lauren Debrowski, sophomore comm. studies major

—Olaniyi Solebo, sophomore political science major

—Marjie Blicharz, junior sociology major

Have fun and get involved on campus at the same time!

Write for The Signal before the spring semester is over! wojtowi3@tcnj.edu Hilarey Wojtowicz / Opinions Editor

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Features

Spring brings new year celebration for Persian culture

By Hilarey Wojtowicz Opinions Editor The Central Eurasian and Middle Eastern Studies Society celebrated the Persian ʻNowruzʼ New Year in the atrium of the Social Sciences building on Thursday March 18, a celebration marked by the coming of spring.

“The point of this celebration is to get the word out about the Persian culture and region,” junior international studies and English major Esther Tetruashvily said.

The Nowruz or “New Day” celebration brought forth an awareness of the spring season within the Persian culture to the campus through ethnic foods and dances, a traditional Nowruz table and information regarding the languages and programs offered at the College. In between the traditional Persian dancing and the different foods, including baklava, humus and naan — also known as pita bread — the “Sofreh Haft-seen” table stood holding the seven traditional articles which symbolize the triumph of good over evil in peopleʼs lives.

Along with foods representing life, wealth and abundance, there were others, such as fruits that symbolized love, patience, purity and health. Next to the foods on the Nowruz table were coins for prosperity, painted eggs for fertility, goldfish for life, a mirror for reflection and candles for enlightenment and happiness.

Tim Lee / Photo Editor

Performers presented traditional Persian dancing as students and faculty sampled the food and took part in ʻNowruz,ʼ the Persian New Year.

After learning about the traditional culture, students were invited to visit the tables covered in papers and pamphlets regarding study abroad programs in the Middle East and Central Eurasia.

American University of Cairo and the University of Damascus both offer direct study abroad programs for students of the College. These recent programs came to the College via the Title 6 UISFUL Grant: “Iran and Beyond.”

“We want to expand the Persian and Arabic languages and the curriculum at the College,” history department professor Jo-Ann Gross said. “There are currently two minors offered and certain concentrations, but we want more support for the curriculum to rebirth here on campus.”

Besides the study abroad programs, Gross is working with Zulya Rajabova, president of the Silk Road Treasure

tours in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

This upcoming May, Gross will accompany nine students and four other faculty members for a Maymester tour with this program.

For students who will not have the opportunity for a trip abroad, the Central Eurasian and Middle Eastern Studies Society which planned the Nowruz celebration, has other events planned for the rest of the semester including workshops, performances and films.

“Iʼm hoping for a bigger membership next semester,” Tetrushvily said.

“This and other events are great opportunities for the culture to be more aware on campus.”

The first day of spring is an important day in the ancient Iranian culture and has been celebrated for over 3,000 years by the people of the Middle East and Central Eurasia. The United Nations General Assembly has officially decided to recognize this holiday as of 2010. Nowruz is officially registered on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. It is now celebrated on March 21, or the day of the vernal equinox.

Keep a look out for more Central Eurasian and Middle Eastern Studies Society events this semester.

Hilarey Wojtowicz can be reached at wojtowi3@tcnj.edu.

Change up sexual positions for new experiences

By Lauren Gurry Copy Editor

Variation, variation, variation. The key to staying satisfied with the four basic sexual positions is varying couplesʼ lovemaking style.

Many heterosexual couples frequently complain about being bored in the bedroom. Yet just by varying their favorite sexual positions, many are broadening their horizons.

All of the examples in this article were found in “Ride ʻEm Cowgirl,” written by Sadie Allison, a licensed doctor of sexuality and the CEO of an adult toy company.

The missionary position – or “boy-on-top” – is the most traditional sexual position, causing some couples to feel bored when repeatedly utilizing it. The good news is missionary doesnʼt have to be boring, and easy adjustments can be made.

If you try “the nutcracker,” the “bottom partner” simply adjusts his or her knees to lean against his or her partnerʼs back or shoulders.

If you try the “kneel ʻnʼ squeel,” the “top partner” kneels on the floor, while the bottom partner lays down with his or her legs behind his or her partnerʼs shoulders. Both of these positions create a new angle of entry, creating a different form of pleasure for both partners.

If you want to vary height, some good ideas are to lean on edges of beds, tables and so on. In “standing ovation,” the top partner stands while the bottom partner sits on an elevated surface, and “orgasmʼs edge” instructs the bottom partner to sit on a high surface, while the top partner leans against him or her or kneels on the floor. These positions are beneficial because they provide easy access to the femaleʼs g-spot, allowing for high-intensity orgasms.

For couples with an aggressive feminine partner, girl-on-top is a popular position, but it can become boring if done the same with each experience, but easy

adjustments can be made to create new and thrilling sexual experiences.

A popular adjustment in the girl-on-top position is “reverse cowgirl,” where the top partner turns around to face his or her partnerʼs feet instead of his or her face. This position is popular because the penis hits the opposite vaginal wall than in most positions. Women arenʼt accustomed to this sensation, so it is very stimulating and desirable.

Another easy option is for the top partner to lie on his or her partner during the girl-on-top subcategory “cover girl.” This allows partners to kiss one another and feel close during intercourse.

In “ultimate cowgirl,” couples adjust height, with the bottom partner sitting in a chair, and the top partner sitting on top.

This position allows for deep penetration and physical closeness between partners.

Although some consider “doggy style” unromantic and kinky, it is the position of choice for those who love multi-stimulation and visual stimulation. “Doggy style” allows partners to easily grasp – look at breasts, buttocks, testicles and the clitoris while indulging in deep-penetration intercourse.

For “doggy style” frequenters, itʼs important to vary your style, or youʼll get bored, like with other positions. The simplest way to vary “doggy style” is for the bottom partner to adjust his or her back arch, and for both partners to adjust knee angles.

If a couple decides to try “bottoms up,” the bottom partner positions his or herself normally for doggystyle, but then arches his or her back, with his or her bottom in the air.

With the “three-legged fox” position, the goal is for the bottom partner to look like an attentive fox. The top partner kneels upright, while the bottom partner kneels on his or her hands and knees, with his or her back arched and knees close together.

Both “bottoms up” and the “three-legged fox” allow for new angles of entry in “doggy style,” creating different forms of stimulation and body dexterity.

The fourth basic sexual position is called spooning.

Although spooning is commonly forgotten, it is debatably the most romantic position, since it allows for couples to have intercourse while cuddling, or “spooning.” If youʼve never tried this position, give it a shot.

With “sporking,” the top partner picks up the bottom partnerʼs thigh with his or her arm. This makes penetration easier during spooning because the vaginal or anal opening is wider.

Another option in spooning is called the “dessert spoon,” which instructs both partners to alternate their leg positions, allowing them to feel the “perfect fit.”

One more spooning option is called the “heaping spoon.” Both partners bend their knees up, allowing for a penis – or strap-on – to hit the “bottom partnerʼs” g-spot, resulting in the famous g-spot orgasm in females.

I read “Ride ʻEm Cowgirl” in two hours and found it very comprehensive and reader-friendly. There are sections specifically for “cowgirls” or “cowboys,” and caricatures are included of position variations. If you enjoyed this article, I highly encourage you to purchase the book.

If youʼre in a homosexual relationship, however, this isnʼt the best book for you, as Allison has structured it for heterosexual couples. If youʼd like suggestions specifically for homosexual couples, please e-mail me at gurry2@tcnj.edu with requests for advice, popular books or with suggestions and quotes for an article.

Iʼd love to better represent the GLBTQ community.

Quick tips for all positions -Don’t forget protection.

-Discuss positions you enjoy with your partner.

-Don’t neglect the clitoris and testicles.

-Start by laying down mats, towels or blankets.

-Keep tissues, lubricant and condoms nearby.

Tips by Lauren Gurry

March 24, 2010 The Signal page 13

Utilize nice outdoor weather to workout

By Andrea Thyrring Staff Writer After a winter of poor weather, the sun is finally shining. There are still a couple of months left until beachseason is in full swing, but it is nice enough to spend some more time outdoors.

Rather then complete your workout in your room or at the gym, now is the time to start moving around outside.

The easiest way to increase your physical activity outside is to walk. With most students on campus hoofing it to class, adding a few extra minutes to your trek can increase your calorie burn for the day.

Try leaving 10 minutes early for class and taking a longer route, or take a longer walk back to your room or car after class lets out. By changing your typical routine, not only will you increase your physical activity but you might also find yourself in a part of campus you rarely get to explore.

The same goes for cycling. Whether you have your wheels on campus or need to bring a bike from home, bicycling is an excellent way to burn calories outdoors.

The average person can burn around 130 calories in a half hour of easy cycling, according to Healthstatus.com. Riding to and from class will speed up your commute, and taking a ride around campus is a good way to soak in the nice weather.

If you prefer to run, look for steps to add an extra challenge, or reverse your route around the loop to change up your regular routine. To take your strength training outside, add some easy moves along the way to compliment your cardio routine. After you are warmed up, you can easily include inclined push-ups, dips and core work throughout your route for a quick circuit.

Benches along the lakes provide the most options for alternative workouts.

Place your toes on the seat of the bench and assume the push-up position. Keeping your abs tight, bend your elbows and lower yourself toward the ground. Hold for one second, and press back up. Complete 8-12 reps. This is a great way to tone your chest, shoulders, triceps, glutes and abs.

Another bench-friendly exercise is the dip. Sit with your buttocks barely on the edge of the seat, hands planted firmly on either side of your hips. Keeping your knees directly over your ankles, move your hips off the bench. Bend your elbows behind you and lower your buttocks toward the ground. Stopping when your elbows are at 90 degrees, hold for one second, and then press back up. Repeat for 8-12 reps, and youʼll really work your triceps and tone your core.

Adding in crunches is a good way to work your core muscles. For more variety though, find a tree and complete 812 reps of bridge. Lie on your back with your right knee bent and right foot on the ground. Extend your left leg to the tree and press with your foot, contracting your glutes to lift your hips off of the

Andrea Thyrring / Staff Writer

One exercise to do outdoors is the bridge, where you lie down with your let leg to a tree, contracting your glutes to lift your hips. ground. Keep your body in a straight line from shoulders to toes and hold for one second. Do a full set on this side, and then switch legs.

Getting outside is a great way to increase your physical activity. You donʼt need to go out with the intention to work out, though. Playing frisbee or catch with friends can get your heart pumping and can be a lot of fun too. Whatever activity you choose to do, enjoy your

time outdoors, and remember to wear sunscreen.

For more information on strength training outdoors, visit prevention.com, keyword “outdoor exercises.”

To check the correct calorie count of each outdoor activity, please visit healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc.

Andrea Thyrring can be reached at thyrrin2@tcnj.edu.

Campus Style was my momʼs.

then Iʼm good.

Where did you find those sneakers?

I got them from the Goodwill store. I have so many new sneakers that I bought for the spring, and I have to break them all in. So thank God itʼs nice out now because I literally have 10 new pairs of sneakers sitting in my closet.

You seem to like a lot of color in your wardrobe.

I like a lot of solids in different colors, but at the same time I love crazy prints. Right now, I like to wear a lot of dark, olive or brown things, and then pair them with something crazy like pink shoes.

Where do you typically shop?

I work at a surf shop at home, so I usually wear a lot of brands like Volcom and Billabong. But I shop at a lot of thrift stores and Marshalltype stores. Sometimes you will go and dig through the racks and theyʼll be nothing there, but when you actually find good stuff youʼre like, “hell yeah.”

Kristen Kubilus / Staff Writer

By Kristen Kubilus Staff Writer Erika Librizzi Junior Bio-Psychology Major What are you wearing?

Iʼm wearing an olive tank top, jeans from Marshalls, a Nixon watch and Coppertone Keds.

The shark tooth necklace I got at an art studio in Puerto Rico, and the little gold leaf

How would you classify your style?

I would classify it as easy and comfortable.

Have you always had the same style?

In high school, I probably tried a little bit harder. But after coming to (the College) and coming into my own more, I just started to wear what I liked and stopped caring what other people thought about it. If I look in the mirror and like what I have on,

Would you say that your style reflects your personality?

Yes. Iʼm very outgoing, and the people who donʼt know me probably will not understand what the hell is going on, but once they get a better idea of who I am, my clothing choice might make a little more sense to them.

Are you a creative person?

I would like to think I am.

Clothing-wise, I feel like I am creative just because I will take things that people would not normally put together as an outfit and somehow manage to make it all work. When I go to a store, I usually look out for things that are simple, because then I can put my own flair on it and make it my own style.

Want to be featured in Campus Style? Have a hip sense of fashion you want to share? E-mail Kristen at kubilus2@tcnj.edu for a chance to be featured.

Tim Lee / Photo Editor

Students bask in the sun College students took advantage of the gorgeous weather and spent time outdoors this weekend, lounging out on a blanket, reading, playing frisbee, having lunch and soaking up the sun rays.

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Arts & Entertainment

March 24, 2010 The Signal page 17

Warrior-teenagers take top prize at ‘WIRED 2010’

By Matt Huston Arts & Entertainment Editor

No College show blends a greater number of eccentric characters, ridiculous plot pieces, punchy one-liners and pop-culture references than campus theater’s insomniac mash-up, “WIRED.” This year’s edition of the 24-hour one-act play competition — organized by All College Theater (ACT) and TCNJ Musical Theater (TMT) — pitched four teams of student playwrights, directors, actors and crew against each other with some hilarious results. During a March 20 presentation in the Travers/Wolfe Main lounge, an audience spanning couches and carpet witnessed scenes of katana combat, nerd comedy, a genetic mystery, a male pregnancy and more.

“Granny Mae’s Samurai Smackdown,” the winner of “WIRED’s” Best Show award, portrayed one sex-blinded teenager’s battle against an army of Japanese creditors, wittily narrated by senior sociology and communication studies double major and ACT president, Maddie Patrick. Patrick won Best Actress for her portrayal of Granny Mae, the outwardly grandmotherly, inwardly lewd storyteller of the title.

Granny Mae told the story of the sensitive John, played by sophomore cognitive science major John Cherney, who decided to take on the credit burden of his crush Tiffani, played by sophomore self-designed international studies major Liz So. The narrator chimed in with her sour commentary right off the bat: “Tiffani is a girl of discerning tastes. Some may refer to her as a spoiled bitch.”

When Tiffani’s failed at her job at “Turning Tricks,” the local magic shop, John and his admirer, Buffy (senior philosophy major Victoria Shadiack) donned kimonos and stormed the headquarters of a Japanese credit card company. After the two had slaughtered “200 businessmen,” Patrick cut in with a cold interjection — “this is real life,” she told the youngsters, revealing that both would pay for the murders in prison.

Senior communication studies major Marla

Tim Lee / Photo Editor

At the conclusion of ‘Papa Mia,’ characters check out a coconut monkey bank, one of the arbitrary props donated by ‘WIRED’ overseers.

Pachter and sophomore physics major Julian Starr, who won the award for Best Writing, triumphed in their characterization of the dirty granny and their framing of the comically anticlimatic, “Kill Bill”-style samurai battle.

Pachter explained that in keeping with this year’s prompt, the basic plot of “Granny Mae” grew out of one of Aesop’s fables, as did the plots of the other plays. Incidentally, she and Starr were also required to write an action plot.

“I never ever thought in a million years I would have written a successful actionadventure,” Pachter said, “but ‘WIRED’ took us both out of our comfort zones and kept us on our toes to create something great.”

As in “Granny Mae,” each of the plays had a way of deconstructing their own fictions.

In “Papa Mia,” written by seniors Vincent St. John, computer science and interactive multimedia double major, and Garrett RaskoMartinis, journalism major and Signal Sports Editor, one character decried the unreality of the whole play. After the to-be-married Sophie spent most of the play trying to decipher which of three compulsively lying women was her birth mother and wading through an elaborate

plot involving an “artificial womb” project and a “Parent Trap” surprise, her true mother arrived at last.

Having solved their mystery, Sophie and her father sauntered off-stage — leaving the newly arrived mother, played by senior math major Jackie Watt, to complain about the improbability of the day’s events.

“Wish Granted,” written by sophomore communication studies major Kirsten Anderson and sophomore graphic design major Laura Kao, skewed narrative with a clever show-within-the-show, a makeover program hosted by the sporadically flamboyant Carter Carterson (voiced deftly by junior Spanish secondary education major Ray McCue). The show’s subject, the geeky, “Star Wars”-loving Rodger, met a handful of kooky ladies before confessing his love for the show’s producer.

This romantic resolution took a wonderfully silly turn when the producer, aware of Rodger’s fetishization of Princess Leia and her “delicious cinnabuns,” emerged in Leia’s costume, setting off a dramatized ejaculation.

Perhaps the most outlandish play, though, was “Invasion of Chaos with Buckaroo Bonzai

& the Teleportation Device,” by freshman chemistry major Brad Heisler and junior English major Matt Daley. In a future where Oprah was president and Al Gore lived with the Coca-Cola polar bears, the characters in “Chaos” learned the dangers of technology when they stumbled into a teleportation device invented by the quirky Dr. Bundle (senior math major Steve Fingerhut).

Jeff Mondoro, junior business major, won Best Actor as Jack Bellicec, a slobbish guy who spent most of his stage time gorging fried chicken. Mondoro stirred the audience’s laughter when he launched into an inscrutable but spirited monologue about the plot of “Star Wars.”

In another standout role, freshman biology major Dan Loverro played Sean Fletcher, a male chauvinist who the machine made pregnant. The tables were turned on Sean — who exclaimed that “Women are good for one thing, sex and cooking” — when he erupted into a climactic childbirth.

The Saturday night performances were culmination of 24 hours of work that began with scriptwriting on Friday night and continued through an eight-hour-long rehearsal process.

All along the way, a team of arbiters, led by sophomore English and secondary education double major and ACT vice president Melissa Standish, sheparded the process and roused the playmakers with a series of writing prompts.

As in past years, “WIRED’s” comedic wiles owed a lot to a long, screwy development process shot through with several “twists,” which were handed down by the six arbiters.

As the plays developed, teams were told they had to include a set of Lady Gaga lyrics, lines from fortune cookies and a handful of goofy props, among other things.

Teams utilized these “twists” deftly, whether by incorporating them into the plot or scattering them absurdly along with the action.

The crowd laughed excitedly wherever words from Gaga’s “Bad Romance” were recited.

For the full article, visit tcnjsignal. net. Matt Huston can be reached at huston4@tcnj.edu.

TCNJ Wind Ensemble teams up with high schools

By Laura Herzog Nation & World Editor

The Youth Orchestra of Bucks County (YOBC) Wind Ensemble and the TCNJ Wind Ensemble joined forces in the Mildred and Ernest E. Mayo Concert Hall on Thursday March 18.

The concert, which included group performances by both the Youth Orchestra and the College ensemble before the two groups played together, marked what has been a two-year ongoing collaboration between the College Music Department and Bucks County student musicians, according to George Balog, conductor of the TCNJ Wind Ensemble.

The performers enjoyed a packed hall, filled with a supportive audience of mostly family and friends.

The YOBC, which includes students from high schools in the Philadelphia area, and the TCNJ Wind Ensemble played three and five pieces, respectively. They then played two pieces, Tchaikovsky’s “March Slav, Op. 31,” and Johannes Hanssen’s “Norwegian March,” as a large ensemble group.

The night’s standout moments

highlighted individuals for their exceptional involvement in the program. Brian Plagge, a senior music education major from the College who has interned with the YOBC for the past two years, and intern David Somerville, a 2009 alum of both the College and the YOBC, each conducted one piece during the program.

Additionally, two winners of the College Music Department’s first high school solo competition for clarinet and horn, clarinetist Daniel Choi and horn-player Benjamin Wulfman, performed.

Both students beamed gratefully when the audience rewarded their performances with applause and shouts of “Bravo!” According to Steven Sweetsir, conductor of the YOBC, contest winners had to come in and work with the TCNJ Wind Ensemble several times through the past month. The YOBC students worked on the final selection of music separately from the TCNJ Wind Ensemble until a combined rehearsal the night before the show, he added.

The show included a variety of songs, from the lively and bombastic to the soft, melancholy and smooth.

Balog singled out Henry Fillmore’s “The Circus Bee” as a particularly

“technically demanding” piece.

The collaboration has duel purposes, according to both Balog and Sweetsir. One one hand, it is an ideal opportunity for musical growth for both musicians as well as valuable teaching experience for College students.

It is also a way for the College to attract and scout out talented high school musicians, and accordingly for the high-schoolers to determine if the College is the “right fit” for them.

“We’re hoping some of them come to (the College). Hopefully they like the band and say ‘I want to be in there,’” said Balog.

“It’s been a really good collaboration,” Sweetsir said after the show. “It started because one student from my group, David Somerville, came here as a music education major and he approached me about interning.”

“We have our students work with their students on Sunday afternoons in Bucks County Community College. It’s like student teaching for juniors,” said Balog. Six to eight juniors from the JPE class are teaching Bucks County students this year, Balog said. In addition, the Music Department sends other students to schools in Montgomery

Tom O’Dell / Photo Assistant

Thursday’s performance was part of an ongoing effort to familiarize high school musicians with the College. and Bridgewater-Raritan districts and offers clinics that help with flute, sax and trombone quartets.

“It’s like a football team,” Balog added. “You have to recruit the best kids you can get.”

In fact, the Music Department recently created a new position with the intent to enhance the music experience of visitors to the College, with an emphasis on the experience of prospective students and their families.

Sophomore philosophy major Jesse de Agustin, who worked

at the concert, is one of five new events house managers.

“An event like this is great because people have questions about the school, then see the facilities. They think a place like this could be great for their kids,” he said. “We provide a ‘wow’ experience to every guest … The audience services side compliments the amazing performances we get here.”

Laura Herzog can be reached at herzog2@tcnj.edu.

March 24, 2010 The Signal page 19

‘Homespun’ melts dimensions of home and harmony

By Matt Huston Arts & Entertainment Editor

The Art Department opened about a dozen new rooms on March 17. Visitors were unable to walk around in them. In fact, they could not even pass through their doorways.

However, thanks to the powers of color and depth invested in the College Art Gallery’s latest exhibit, the assemblage of off-kilter paintings of rooms and images of domesticity invited viewers to enter a vivid and bewildering space of the mind.

“Homespun,” curated by Dustin London, assistant professor of art, runs until April 21 and combines the work of seven artists who have dug into, toyed with and colored over our conceptions of “home.”

“I didn’t want to approach this with a very conventional, home-sweet-home kind of feeling,” London explained. “Each of the paintings I chose … has something that is slightly off, that makes the painting feel slightly odd.”

One example of this visual dissonance is a large painting called “Living Room,” by Philadelphia-based artist Sarah McEneaney.

Watch the painting for a moment and an otherwise realistic image of the artist’s dwelling — full of colorful furniture, bought paintings, and books and films with minuscule titles drawn-in — starts to appear a bit warped.

The white ceiling fan bends fantastically, the fireplace slopes oddly and the whole perspective seems a bit off.

McEneaney, one of three artists present for the Wednesday night opening, attributed the distortion to the way in which she composed the room in her painting, looking out from a staircase, starting with the sofa below her and working up to the ceiling. The unusual shape of things, enhanced by a few anomalous paintings within the painting — of burning buildings, an amputee cat-man, and Allen Iverson — gives the work the subtly unsettling quality that London referred to.

A series of rooms by Iowa artist Michael Perrone amplify such anamolies. His “New Jersey Bathroom,” based on a room in his

parents’ house, explodes the bathroom’s true conventions in favor of a tactile, threedimensional sink and a floor that appears to slide out from under you.

Perrone described his technique as more automatic than figurative.

“I try ultimately to let go as much as I can,” he said, “and then just think about what’s happening with the paint. So then when things go awry, when things, like, veer from that reality, I just let them.”

The paintings that result twist viewers’ images of comfort and normality. The closest incongruencies shake and excite viewers’ perceptions of the spaces depicted. The curator used an apt musical simile to describe this startling almost-reality.

“In music, if you play one note and then you play another right next to that note on the scale, that feels really discordant,” London said, “wheras if it’s drastically a different note, then it feels much more harmonious.”

“It’s the more subtle oddities that make (the images) feel even more strange,” he said.

Several other room paintings use clashing imagery to great effect. Three paintings by Echo Eggebrecht show rigid, dark-colored and sparse little rooms punctuated by minutely detailed writings, floor rugs and objects.

The most striking of these is “Painting for Don Delillo,” which observes two rooms divided by a paper-thin wall and presumably kept by the same tenant. In the leftward room there is a disheveled desk overlooked by a vast wall of writing — scribbled across it are miniature digits, calculations, matrices and the acronymn NORAD, suggesting that the resident may be on the verge of cracking some high-stakes national defense problem.

This stands in stark contrast to the rightward room — a skeletal, desolate bedroom that contains little but a bare mattress and a decrepit sex doll.

A reasonable study of these rooms reveals that they are more than they appear.

In this case, they seem to represent a severe disunion between professional and personal achievement. Like the work of postmodern authors like DeLillo, they are soaked in silent

Tim Lee / Photo Editor

Students got a first look at the College Art Gallery’s domestic conceptions and met three of the artists at the Wednesday night opening.

anxiety.

Several home scenes throw viewers off guard with more immediate imagery. David Kearns paints a murky picture of a hillbilly’s yard gone morbidly awry in “Alley,” and Martin McMurray’s grim “Reenactment: April 21, 1972” prostrates a wife, like a poor dog, at the feet of her husband.

Yet not all of the works portray rooms or houses as a means of exploring “home.”

Keiko Narahashi’s “2-4-1 (cat toy)” and “24-1 (tangle)” concentrate instead on everyday household scraps.

Both of these works combine 2-D and 3-D elements to create multiple perspectives on the same object. The actual, three-dimensional objects, a cat toy and a thread knot displayed in small ceramic bowls, are backgrounded by colorful, two-dimensional recreations in paint.

“2-4-1 (tangle)” is particuarly interesting due to the origin of the material — according to Narahashi, the tangle came from a scarf destroyed in the dryer. This fact makes her two-dimensional reconstruction of the tangle all the more fascinating. In her creation,

the once-beautiful scarf material reappears as something resembling a flower or a topographical map.

Narahashi’s works, and those of Leidy Churchman — who splices nature and domesticity with his painted-stick “cigarettes” and painted-rock “cheese” — engage viewers by exposing pieces of “home” to the world at large.

“To me it’s sort of interesting to take something that’s sort of everyday and to put it in another context, so that it forces you to actually look at it,” Narahashi said.

Whether the artist is placing familiar objects in foreign surroundings or making familiar surroundings seem foreign, each of these artists has his or her method of making viewers look more closely. Each work stretches our “home-sweet-home” reality in its own peculiar way.

“These paintings become just as much about the space of the mind as they are the space of the actual world,” London said.

Matt Huston can huston4@tcnj.edu.

be

reached

at

New student exhibition spaces allow artists to spread their wings

By Emily Brill Arts & Entertainment Assistant

The College has showcased student art before — plenty of times. But never like this.

“4x4: The Debut Student Art Exhibition Series,” which runs March 17-April 21, gave each participating student free reign over one-fourth of the new student exhibition spaces — his or her own little corner of the Art and Interactive Multimedia (IMM) Building, to do with what he or she pleased. Exhibits were selected and will be assessed by an “outside professional juror,” according to the exhibition series’ brochure, and student artists will receive recognition and accolades at an April 21 reception and awards ceremony.

The exhibition series is the first of its kind at the College. Sixteen exhibitions will be displayed over a period of four weeks, four per week, thus the series’ title, “4x4.”

Works will materialize on the bare walls as the result of either construction or curation — students will work individually or collaborate. In the spirit of possibility embodied by the new workspaces, few restrictions encumber the student artists. Students were urged to fill the empty spaces as they liked.

This can be an imposing task to face.

“The challenge, and the wonderful thing about the challenge, that the Student Exhibition Spaces … present is that they are not white cubes,” wrote Kate Kraczon, assistant curator at the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania and juror for the “4x4” series, in the exhibition brochure. “They are an opportunity to work within unorthodox parameters as a young artist, to experience early in your career the frustrations and

Photo courtesy of Sarah Cunningham

Tim Lee / Photo Editor

Kozak’s ‘Reflected Enclosure’ is displayed above.

Below, a painting from Hughes’ ‘Vis-à-vis.’ rewards that these spaces offer.”

An annual showcase of student work has been a keystone of the art program at the College for many years, but, as

College Art Gallery director Sarah Cunningham noted, this is a “reincarnation” of the traditional exhibition.

“New this year, with the new building, are separate student-proposed and executed exhibitions in the Student Exhibition Spaces,” Cunningham explained in an e-mail, “rather than one big exhibit featuring all of the accepted students’ work.”

This week’s featured artists, whose works will be displayed until March 23, are Patrick Hughes, senior art education major, Keith Kozak, junior art education major, Katie Rossiter, junior fine arts major, and Lindsey Hardifer, sophomore graphic design major. Hughes’ “Vis-à-vis” offers original abstract paintings, alternately colorful and black and white, full and sparse. He shares an exhibition room with Kozak, whose “Examination: A Look into the Art of the Form” explores, as its title suggests, several traditional forms of artistic expression: his exhibit includes photography, a pen-and-ink drawing, and two sculptures of sorts, “American Dorodango” — a small metal ball placed squarely in the middle of a patch of dirt atop a pedestal — and “Reflected Enclosure,” an intricate 3-D design made of Plexiglas.

Rossiter and Hardifer inhabit the other gallery with their two exhibits, “Untitled (String Room)” and “Things Remembered.” The former is an installation of strings zigzagging the room in a tumult, occupying the entire expanse of Room 119A. The latter is a series of black and white images that conjures a sense of nostalgia with its running theme of lace winding dreamily through the numerous, untitled works.

Sponsored by the Art Department, the Art Students Association (ASA) and the College Art Gallery, the second installation of the series will be put into effect March 26.

Check out more Arts & Entertainment @ tcnjsignal.net.

page 18 The Signal March 24, 2010

page 20 The Signal March 24, 2010

March 24, 2010 The Signal page 21 Swimming & Diving

Baseball

Lions dominate in home opener Nationals / Lions honored

By Garrett Rasko-Martinis Sports Editor The Lions experienced growing pains in the early part of the season. The College has three freshman starting in the field and a young staff struggling to get into a rhythm, and the team fell to 4-7 record rather quickly. But junior pitcher Connor Henderson and the offense rallied behind a large home crowd on a beautiful day to win the home opener against Haverford College in a 13-0 shutout last Friday March 19.

Henderson has been the undisputed ace of the young pitching staff and turned in his third strong performance to pick up his third straight win. He went the distance in a complete-game shutout by scattering four hits, fanning 10 batters and only walking one.

“So far it’s early, but I’ve been off to a good start,” Henderson said. “I’m just trying to be a leader. Our pitching staff has been struggling and struggling to throw strikes and walks are high. So I was trying to throw strikes and be effective.”

The Lions’ offense gave Henderson more than enough run support, scoring 13 runs on 13 hits. The College took an early 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning after sophomore infielder James Ruzich hit a double with the bases loaded to

Tom O’Dell / Photo Assistant

The Lions drove in 33 runs in three games.

give the Lions a lead they never surrendered. He finished the day with three hits, two doubles, three RBI’s and three runs scored.

Sophomore catcher Mike Galeotafiore extended his hitting streak to 12-straight after a 3-for-3 performance. He has a .524 batting average this season. Junior infielder Jason Zegarski also extended his hitting streak to 12-straight.

“The win against Haverford was a huge one for us,” senior catcher Matthew Baumann said. “Winning that game was one of our initial goals for the season, and it’s always a good sign to accomplish goals that we set. The crowd was awesome, and hopefully we were able to prove that when any opponent walks onto our field, they’re in for a tough fight.”

The College ‘soffense had its best showing of the season in a 16-6 victory at Muhlenberg College last Wednesday, March 17. The Lions tallied 20 total hits in a convincing win.

Senior pitcher Greg Spatz earned his second victory of the season after surrendering just two runs in seven innings. He gave up 10 hits and struck out eight batters.

Galeotafiore started the offensive onslaught with a tworun home run with two outs in the top of the first inning. He finished his day with three hits, three RBI’s and three runs scored. Senior outfielder Chris Esperon had four hits, including a triple, and two RBI’s.

“We have so much potential it’d be a shame not to repeat as the (New Jersey Athletic Conference) Champions,” Bauman said. “It’s still early in the season, and there’s a lot of baseball left. I can only see us progressing each game, and I want the team to have confidence and know what we’re capable of accomplishing.”

The Lions also dropped a tough 5-4 game at Ursinus College last Thursday March 18. Sophomore pitcher Eric Lewis threw 5 and one third innings of shutout ball, but the offense was unable to retake the lead.

“We’re really young, but it’s a group of really talented kids,” Henderson said. “We’re going to take off once they have 10 or 11 games under their belts. They got the talent, they just need the experience and a chance to adjust to the college game.”

The Lions will have five games in the upcoming week including three at home.

“When we’re playing for the home fans we got to win,” Henderson said. “Got three games at home in the upcoming week and we just have to try and get on a roll.”

Garrett Rasko-Martinis can be reached at rasko2@tcnj.edu.

with All-American status

continued from page 28 place finish of 55.15 seconds in the 100-yard breaststroke. He also placed seventh in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:03.10.

In the women’s 200-yard medley relay, sophomore Traci Hofer and senior Ashley Robb teamed up with Shangle and Pierce in order to take sixth overall in a time of 1:45.76, a new school record, and fourth place in the 200-yard freestyle relay posting a time of 1:34.97.

Pierce and Shangle also swam in the 400-yard medley relay with freshman Kristyn Wikoff and junior Margaret Molloy, finishing in a time of 3:54.50 to take 13th place. In the last event, the 400-yard freestyle relay, sophomore Melissa Hessler, Pierce, Shangle, and Molloy grabbed 13th place with a time of 3:30.97.

The men’s team placed sixth in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:22.45. The relay team, sophomore Ryan Clark, junior Tom Medvecky, Schneider and Kircher, received All-American citations.

Medvecky, Kircher, Clark and Vernoia then took fifth place with a time of 6:39.69 in the 800-yard freestyle relay.

Medvecky also earned All-American honors in an individual event when he posted a time of 1:50.60 in the 200-yard fly and placed seventh. Medvecky broke his own school record with this time. He also took 11th place in the 100-yard fly with a time of 49.96 seconds in order to claim All-American honorable mention, as well.

Overall, Emory University took the top spot in the women’s meet and Kenyon College took first in the men’s.

The Lions proved to be a threat in the waters, nevertheless, and the men’s team ended up with the best finish in team history. However, with a few improvements the teams plan on finishing on a higher level next year.

“For improvements, we definitely need to work on our walls, but more importantly on our relay starts,” said Vernoia. “But next season we’re going to be back with an even better squad, cracking the top four in the nation.”

Hilarey Wojtowicz can be reached at wojtowi3@tcnj.edu.

Lacrosse

College strolls toward 4-0 perfect start Lions fly past Rangers and Cavaliers

By Krystal Spencer Staff Writer The preseason fifth-ranked lacrosse team in the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) poll has been busy in the last week, adding three wins to start their season off 4-0. The team tied their scoring record of 22 goals in a single game with their 22-9 win over Eastern University March 16, and almost posted a shutout over Cabrini College on March 18.

The Lions saw themselves trailing early against Eastern. Within the first five minutes of the game, the Eagles managed to outscore the Lions 3-1. But the Eagles wouldn’t stay on top for long. Back to back goals from sophomore midfielders Leigh Mitchell and Kathleen Notos tied the game at three. Junior midfielder Ali Jaeger gave the Lions the lead, and Notos scored again, while senior attacker Lisa Saldeen netted three times in two minutes to make the score 8-3. Eastern would only find the back of the net two more times in the first period, before the College went on a sevengoal streak.

Four goals from Mitchell, two from Jaeger, and one from sophomore attacker Sara Keating brought the score to 15-5 at the half.

The second period would closely re-

semble the first. A pair of early goals from freshman atacker Jillian Nealon and Jaeger kept the momentum alive. Eastern junior attacker Grace Griffith would score backto-back in the hopes of sparking some momentum for the Eagles, but the Lions couldn’t be stopped. Leading by as much as 14 goals, the team made a second fivegoal run from Saldeen, Jaeger, and Notos.

Jaeger finished the night with seven goals and three assists while Mitchell had five goals and four assists. Saldeen and Notos each added four goals to their season tally.

Junior goalie Mary Waller came up big with seven saves on the night.

“It feels really great to be back and playing with everyone again,” said Mitchell, who tore her ACL around the same time last year and had to miss the rest of the season. “I think we are a very close team this year which makes it even more fun to be out on the field when you are playing with your best friends.”

The Lions travelled to Cabrini on March 18. They were rewarded with a near perfect 19-1 victory over the Cavaliers. Unlike the game against Eastern, the College never trailed the home team. Jaeger wasted no time setting the pace, finding the net in only 56 seconds. She would score five goals in the first period alone, alongside Nealon and senior attacker Robin Deehan who both had three goals, Saldeen who

scored twice and finally Keating and Notos who had one each. The Lions went into the half 15-0.

They would net only four times in the second half. Saldeen, Mitchell, Jaeger and Notos each added one to the tally, before

Tom O’Dell / Photo Assistant

Seldeen muscles past a defender.

junior attacker Jamie O’Hanlon spoiled the Lions’ shutout with 5:52 left in the game.

Waller only had four saves the entire game.

But the Lions weren’t done yet. In their final game of the week, the College visited Drew University on March 20 looking to continue their unbeaten run. Their explosive offensive style changed to strong defense as they pulled off a 6-4 over the Rangers. Once again, Jaeger put the Lions on the scoreboard first after four minutes.

Sophomore attacker Aileen Musynke tied the score before Mitchell put the College up 2-1 before the half.

Drew’s junior attacker Cara Jeffries evened the score close to the restart, but a goal from Notos gave the Lions the advantage. Saldeen and Deehan also scored, giving them a 5-2 lead. Jaeger scored her second of the day, sandwiched in-between goals from Jefferies and sophomore midfielder Lyndsay Rossi to secure their fourth-consecutive win. In just four games, the Lions’ tally now stands at 63 goals scored and 20 goals allowed.

“Our passing game on attack has really improved this year, and that has made a big impact on our scoring. We read each other really well, and we aren’t afraid to make the ‘thread the needle’ passes,” Jaeger said.

The College takes on Ursinus College this Thursday at 7 p.m. in Lions’ Stadium.

page 22 The Signal March 24, 2010

March 24, 2010 The Signal page 23 Softball

Solid pitching leads to split doubleheader

By Steve Hofstetter, Keith Alberstadt, Ryan Murphy and Chris Strait Michael Jordan called owning the Charlotte Bobcats a dream come true. A dream where you’re back in high school, taking finals in your underwear.

The Golf Channel has planned an eight-hour pregame show for Tiger Woods’ return to the Masters. They will interview all of his mistresses for 10 seconds each.

Tiger Woods has reportedly given his wife $150 million to stay in their relationship, and $300 million to always knock twice before entering his hotel room.

Bud Selig may realign baseball’s divisions based on talent. So the Washington Nationals would move to the NBA’s Atlantic Division.

And everyone is still buzzing about Kansas being knocked off by underdog University of Northern Iowa.

There hasn’t been this shocking a result in college basketball since earlier that day.

AP Photo

For more of the Sports Minute (Or So), visit minuteorso.com

By Michael O’Donnell Staff Writer Coming off a very successful 7-1 road trip in Orlando just a week ago, the Lions split a hard fought doubleheader on Saturday in Bethlehem, Pa. against the Greyhounds of Moravian College.

Both games ended in a 1-0 score, with the Greyhounds squeaking by in the first contest, while the Lions edged out their opponents in the second.

“We played very well and it’s great to be performing so well this early on against such a solid and talented team,” senior pitcher Ashley Minervini said.

In game one, the lone run was scored in the bottom of the seventh and final inning, as freshman infielder Amanda Dizinno cracked a home run to seal it for the home team.

“The pitch was working on them all game and I didn’t think twice about throwing it,” Minervini said.

“After, I just tried not getting too upset.”

Up to that point, it was indeed all about the pitching, as Minervini of the Lions dueled with sophomore Jenna Carmon pitch-for-pitch. Minervini allowed just one run on four hits in her fifth complete game of the season, while Carmon only gave up two hits.

“They both were pretty effective since both teams were scoreless until the seventh inning,” sophomore outfielder Rebecca Florczyk said, who has a pair of hits in game one. “Ashley did a great job, but unfortunately one of their girls got a hold of a great pitch and it cost us the game. It happens.”

More of the same occurred in the second game. Sophomore pitcher Lauren Fitzsimmons improved her perfect 4-0 record on the year by allowing just four hits and fanning five.

This time, however, the Lions pulled out the win on a botched fielding play by the Greyhounds in the fourth. This allowed rookie infielder Ashley Sogluizzo, who had singled earlier in the inning, to score the lone run.

“Well, even though we weren’t really hitting the ball to gain any runs, I was willing to take whatever we could get,” Florczyk said. “Sometimes that means taking advantage of the other team’s errors.”

With the split in the double dip, the Lions are now 8-2 overall, while Moravian College sits at 7-5. Such a hot start is exactly how the team envisioned things.

“Having left Florida 7-1 this year, we’re expecting a lot more out of ourselves because we proved to other teams early on that we are certainly good enough to compete against

them and win against them,” Florczyk said.

Looking to continue the hot streak, the Lions will have their first home contests of the season when they host a doubleheader on Thursday at 3 p.m. against the Falcons of Messiah College.

Photo courtesty of the Sports Information Desk

Lauren Fitzsimmons winds up.

Cheap Seats

March Madness has gamblers shaking their heads

Upset-heavy tournament destroying brackets

By Bobby Olivier Editor-in-Chief As I sit here, defeated and ashamed of a bracket that only contains a lowly seven of the final 16 teams remaining in the 2010 Division I Men’s tournament, I have determined one thing – March Madness is evil.

Sometime around mid-March, as conference tournaments come to a close, it begins. Talking heads like Joe Linardi and Dick Vitale surface to give the average Joe what may seem like inside and helpful information. Selection Sunday, the day/night when these horrific concoctions of numbers and lines are created, is comparable to the birth of the anti-christ.

On the following Monday, the chaos fueled by ardent optimism begins. Everyone becomes an expert, swearing on all that they hold holy that a No. 13 seed will upset a No. 4, and that one of the No. 1 seeds has less of a chance in the tournament than a group of impoverished girl scouts.

Pools and pseudo gambling rings form in all corners of the country as all walks of life, from the CEO to the mailroom clerk, try to make that one pick that will set them apart from their obviously inferior peers. This year, I had invested my cash, as well as my emotional wellbeing in Villanova University reclaiming a spot in the Final Four and even challenging Kansas University in the final.

Unfortunately, if you have not grimaced at the above statement already, both teams have been eliminated to my chagrin, and I now am simply praying for each game to be entertaining, as my cash has been wasted. And in a tournament where only one No. 3 seed (Baylor University) and one No. 4 seed (Purdue University) remain, entertainment has been plentiful this tournament.

Four teams from the lower half of seeding remain in the Sweet 16, and although they have been the ones to undoubtedly screw me out of a payday that I enjoyed when University of North Carolina won last season, credit must be given. The No. 9-seeded University of Northern Iowa pulled a huge upset when it dethroned Kansas 69-67, many brackets’ pick for the overall champion, including my own.

The Gaels of No. 10-seeded Saint Mary’s College also

ruined my life for the next few weeks when they took down No. 2-seeded Villanova 75-68. No. 11-seeded University of Washington, the lone squad remaining from the Pac-10 Conference, throttled University of New Mexico 82-64, and has appeared to be much stronger than its seeded suggests.

The lowest seed to breathe life into this tournament is No. 12-seeded Cornell University, coming out of the usually overmatched Ivy League.

The Big Red have taken out both No. 5-seeded Temple University and No. 4-seeded University of Wisconsin, and will now try to upset No. 1-seeded Kentucky – many analysts’ new favorite to win the whole shebang – in what would be one of the bigger shocks in

recent tournament memory.

Yes, this piece was more or less written as a means to vent my frustrations over a March Madness that has thrown myself, and many others for a loop in our preconceived notions of how to pick a bracket. The bottom line is obvious.

There is little to no skill involved in marking up these godforsaken pieces of paper, and many pools are likely going to have the uninformed fan, who picked his/her bracket by which team’s mascot was more enjoyable, taking home the cash and leaving the rest of us tearing our hair.

Bobby Olivier can be reached at olivier6@tcnj.edu.

AP Photo

Cornell University celebrating its upset over the University of Wisconsin last Sunday.

page 24 The Signal March 24, 2010

TCNJʼs Political Honor Society presents

An Open Politics Forum: One Year of Obama In 2008, the United States elected Barack Obama, campaigning on a message of hope and change, its new president. As part of the ongoing noble experiment of representative democracy, the citizens are obliged to evaluate their elected officialsʼ progress. TCNJʼs Political Science Honor Society invites you to join us in an open debate between College Democrats and College Republicans on the success of President Obama after his first full year in office. Come and freely express your opinions in this politics forum.

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March 24, 2010 The Signal page 25

LIONS

AROUND THE

DORM 5 3

Garrett Rasko-Martinis “The Ref”

Michael O’Donnell Staff Writer

Mike Leatherwood WTSR Sports

Andrew Amadeo Correspondent

With only a handful of remaining issues, the competition is heating up as our contestants battle to lock up a position in the AtD playoffs. In this week’s AtD, Sports Editor Garrett Rasko-Martinis will ask Staff Writer Michael O’Donnell, WTSR Sports’ Mike Leatherwood and Correspondent Andrew Amadeo who they think has the best pitching staff, who is going to win the Naismith College Player of the Year and which sports movie actor gave the best performance.

1. As it currently stands, which major league team do you think sports the best pitching staff — rotation and bullpen?

AP Photo

MO: You have to go with the San Francisco Giants. They sported the most complete games, shutouts, and strikeouts in 2009, and the second best team ERA and opponent’s batting average in baseball in 2009. Those who pitched in (no pun intended) and helped with those prestigious distinctions are all coming back for 2010. With Cy Young-winner Tim Lincecum, 14-game winner Matt Cain, Barry Zito, who is slowly but surely coming back to form, flamethrower Jonathan Sanchez and one of the top pitching prospects in baseball, Madison Bumgardner, the Giants most definitely have the best rotation in baseball. As for the bullpen, it is a young staff that is starting to come into their own. The bullpen is anchored by top closer Brian Wilson. Wilson was third in the National League in saves at 38, while sporting an ERA under 2.75. Middle relievers Brandon Medders, Jeremy Affeldt and youngster Joe Martinez have provided solid innings without giving up much.

Did I mention these kids in the bullpen are 30 or under? Yet, they all have the experience necessary to be effective at the Major League level. Put all that together, and the Giants will certainly be topping the pitching statistic charts all season long.

ML: I think the Boston Red Sox are coming into the season with the best pitching staff in baseball. They have seasoned veterans Josh Beckett and newly-acquired John Lackey at the top of the rotation, both of which have extensive playoff experience. Anytime you have two quality pitchers with playoff experience, your team will be in good shape come playoff time. They also have one of the best rising stars in baseball in John Lester. The difference between the Red Sox and many other teams is the depth of the rotation. They have five quality starters and if Daisuke Matsuzaka can be anywhere close to where he was in the ’06 World Baseball Classic, they would have a sixth. Along with Papelbon and flamethrowing future closer Daniel Bard in the pen, I’ll take the Sox staff over any other in baseball.

AA: The best pitching staff in the major leagues is the Atlanta Braves. Assuming Takashi Saito and Billy Wagner are still true to their form at the back end of the bullpen and Peter Moylan still can go just about every day in middle relief, they will have the best staff because Tommy Hanson, Jair Jurrjens, Tim Hudson, Derek Lowe and Kenshin Kawakami are absolutely filthy when it comes to throwing the ball.

GRM: Leatherwood picks up the 3 here.

While all three teams mentioned here have excellent starting rotations, the Red Sox have a more dominant bullpen than both the Braves and the Giants. O’Donnell gets

2 here for throwing his support behind a Giant’s pitching staff that is certainly on the rise. Andrew gets the 1 here, because Saito and Wagner are both getting up there in age and I can’t see either of them being as dominant in the closer role as Papelbon or Wilson.

2. Which player do you think most deserves the Naismith College Player of the Year award and will they actually take it home? Is it John Wall? Evan Turner? Or someone else entirely?

MO: Without a doubt, Evan Turner is the Player of the Year in 2010. Turner is more valuable to his team than any other player is to all of college, and he’s not getting the best of help in making his Buckeyes the powerhouse they’ve been as of late. Turner leads the team in points per game, rebounds per game (he’s a guard/forward), and he was one of the top players on the team in almost every other statistical category. No one on the team comes close to what Turner does overall for his team.

As for John Wall, he’s getting way more help then Turner. With teammates like DeMarcus Cousins and Patrick Patterson, potential topfive picks in the upcoming NBA Draft, Wall is easily getting much credit for his accomplishments. Can you name two Ohio State players besides Turner without any help? Didn’t think so. With a share of the Big Ten regular season title, the Big Ten tournament title and a No. 2 seed in a bracket that no longer contains Kansas, it appears that Turner will be able to lay his claim for the Naismith award through the rest of the tourney. He’s the best, and he’s basically doing it without much quality help that he deserves.

ML: This year we have seen a change in college basketball in that there aren’t many real stand out players that we know will be top NBA-prospects. Many of the good teams rely on a combination of good coaching and team play rather than an individual taking over. That is why I believe that there is only a couple of deserving Naismith Player of the Year candidates. This year, John Wall deserves the honor.

He has scored double digits in every one of Kentucky’s games but three, the first of which he didn’t play. Also, he is averaging over six assists per game and four rebounds as a guard.

There is no player that can single-handedly take over a game like John Wall can. Yes, Evan Turner, Scotties Reynolds and Sherron Collins are good players. But I don’t think they are on the level that John Wall is.

for a team that is not nearly as good as people think — just look at their early exit in the tournament. John Wall and Cousins because they play together cancel out and Evan Turner has David Lighty and Jon Diebler. The only other guy I can think of would be Greivez Vasquez, but because of the weak ACC this year and the tough Big East I’d give the nod to Monroe.

GRM: I’m giving O’Donnell the 3 here for bringing up an excellent point that Turner had less help than Wall in leading the Buckeyes this season to a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and a Big Ten title. Leatherwood gets the 2 here, even though I too prefer Wall over Turner, O’Donnell made a better argument. Andrew gets the 1.

AP Photo

3. Which actor in a sports movie do you think was the most believable athlete?

MO: There are many sports movies with very believable athletes in them, including “Slap Shot” with Paul Newman, “61*” with Barry Pepper as Roger Maris and Thomas Jane as Mickey Mantle, and “The Express” with Rob Brown as Ernie Davis. However, the most believable of all is Quinton Aaron, who played Michael Oher in the movie “The Blindside.” A lot of factors went into his very real portrayal of the current Baltimore Ravens lineman. Not many people are aware of the fact that Aaron grew up in a situation very similar to Oher, where he did not have much in terms of family, food, shelter and education. And just like Oher, his life began to turn around. It clearly reflects as such on-screen. Aaron also plays off Sandra Bullock’s stunning performance of her character extremely well, and she made his character that much more of a hero and a sympathetic figure. Finally, the obvious is also what made his character believable. Aaron has the same build, demeanor and features as Oher. Aaron’s depiction of a future NFL lineman who had to push himself physically and mentally to get to that level is clear and apparent. Quinton Aaron covered all the bases of believability. He knocked it clean out of the park.

ML: I have to say that Quinton Aaron in “The Blindside” is one of the best representations of an athlete we have seen in the past 10 years or so. As much as I love sports movies and these documentary-style portrayals of sports stories, I feel like sometimes we don’t exactly connect with the featured athlete if they are played by a big-time movie star. For example, when Keanu Reeves starred as Shane Falco in “The Replacements,” I had a hard time believing that he was a real athlete because I was so used to seeing Keanu Reeves in movies such as the “Matrix.”

However before “The Blindside,” no one had ever seen Quinton Aaron in a major role, which made the audience connect with the character even more. The other major reason Aaron fit the role so well was the physical size of the actor. Aaron is 6’8 and probably over 300 pounds, which really helps when playing an offensive lineman. In the end Aaron fit the role the best and in my mind, is the most believable actor in sports movies.

AA: The most believable athlete in a sports movie in my opinion is Kevin Costner in “Bull Durham.” He plays an aging ballplayer who has had a career catching in the minor leagues and his portrayal of the character is what really makes the movie. A close second and third place would go to Sylvester Stallone in “Rocky” and Robert DeNiro in “Raging Bull,” but how hard is it really to pretend to get hit in the face in a ring?

GRM: Andrew gets the 3 for mentioning my favorite sports movie ever in “Bull Durham.” I’ve been saying for years that Costner must have played baseball in his life because when he’s hitting and catching you can believe that his character is a minor league player. O’Donnell and Leatherwood both sided with Quinton Aaron but I’m giving the 2 to O’Donnell for mentioning how Aaron’s life growing up factored into his performance as Oher. Leatherwood gets the 1 – and I disagree about Keanu Reeves in “The Replacements,” whenever he was on the field I thought he knew how to move in the pocket and throw the ball and made a convincing quarterback.

O’Donnell wins 7 - 6 - 5

“Eleven Holdah” —O’Donnell AP Photo

AA: I think the college Player of the Year should be Greg Monroe of Georgetown. He is the best big man in the country — yes, he’s better than DeMarcus Cousins and he plays

AP Photo

page 26 The Signal March 24, 2010

5x8

March 24, 2010 The Signal page 27

LIONS ROUNDUP Menʼs Tennis

Date 2/28/10 3/7/10 3/8/10 3/9/10 3/17/10 3/20/10 3/21/10 3/27/10 3/27/10 4/7/10 4/11/10 4/17/10 4/18/10 4/21/10 4/27/10 4/28/10

vs. @ @ @ vs. @ vs. @ @ @ vs. vs. @ vs. vs. vs.

@ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vs. vs. @ vs. @

Skidmore College University of Rochester Carthage College Vassar College Muhlenberg College Swarthmore College Kalamazoo College St. Lawrence University Hobart College Drew University Salisbury University New York University Trinity College Bates College Haverford College Stevens Institute of Tech.

L 4-5 W 9-0 W 8-1 L 4-5 W 9-0 W 5-4 L 4-5 11 a.m.

5 p.m.

4:30 p.m.

TBA Noon 1 p.m.

10 a.m.

4 p.m.

3:30 p.m.

@ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vs. @ @ vs. vs. vs.

Menʼs Tennis Junior Daniel Lee went 3-0 in singles play as the Lions finished the week 2-1. Lee also teamed with junior Jonathan Yu to add three more doubles victories to the Lions efforts.

—Brandon

Time/Result

University of Rochester Dominican University The Sage Colleges Wisconsin Lutheran College Pine Manor College Rensselaer Poly. Institute Western N.E. College Wesleyan University Moravian College Muhlenberg College(DH) Messiah College(DH) SUNY Cortland(DH) Gwynedd-Mercy College(DH) Montclair State University Kean University(DH)

W W W W W W L W W 3 3 1 3 3 3

Gould, Sports Assistant

This Week In Sports Baseball

8-3 12-1 9-1 9-0 16-0 12-4 9-10 11-2 1-0 p.m. p.m. p.m. p.m. p.m. p.m.

Mar. 24 @ Gwynedd-Mercy College, 3 p.m.

Mar. 26 vs. Penn State-Abington, 3:30 p.m.

Mar. 29 vs. Alvernia College, 3:30 p.m.

Mar. 30 @ Messiah College, 3:30 p.m.

Softball

Mar. 25

Opponent

Time/Result

Ramapo College Richard Stockton College University of Rochester Emory University Coe College St. Lawrence University William Smith College John Hopkins University Skidmore College Williams College Middlebury College Muhlenberg College Bates College Wellesley College

W 9-0 W 9-0 W 7-2 L 1-8 W 8-1 9:30 a.m.

2 p.m.

3:30 p.m.

11 a.m.

3 p.m.

Noon 1 p.m.

1:30 p.m.

10 a.m.

vs. Messiah College (DH), 3 p.m.

Mar. 27 vs. SUNY-Cortland (DH), 1 p.m.

Mar. 30

@ Gwynedd-Mercy College (DH), 3 p.m.

Track & Field Mar. 27 @ Danny Curan Invitational, TBA Menʼs Tennis

Trivia Question Answer to Last Week’s Trivia Question: 125 games

The Kansas Jayhawks’ loss to the Northern Iowa Panthers on Saturday was the third time in school history that the Jayhawks were a No. 1 seed and lost in the second round of the NCAA tournament. The last time a No. 1 seed was taken out in the second round of the tournament was in 2004 when both Kentucky and Stanford lost. How many times has this happened overall in NCAA tournament history?

Lion of the Week

Daniel Lee

Opponent

Womenʼs Tennis

Date 9/19/09 9/23/09 3/7/10 3/8/10 3/9/10 3/27/10 3/27/10 4/1/10 4/3/10 4/10/10 4/11/10 4/18/10 4/27/10 4/24/10

Time/Result

Softball

Date 3/7/10 3/7/10 3/8/10 3/8/10 3/10/10 3/10/10 3/13/10 3/13/10 3/20/10 3/23/10 3/25/10 3/27/10 3/30/10 4/2/10 4/6/10

Opponent

Mar. 27 @ St. Lawrence University, 11 a.m.

Mar. 27 @ Hobart College, 5 p.m.

Womenʼs Tennis Mar. 27 @ St. Lawrence University, 9:30 a.m.

Mar. 27 @ William Smith College, 2 p.m.

Womenʼs Lacrosse Mar. 25 vs. Ursinus College, 7 p.m.

Mar. 30 @ FDU-Florham, 4 p.m.

AP Photo

SignalSports

Lions’ Lineup March 24, 2010

Men speed ahead to sixth at Nat’ls

Women take ninth place in field of 52

By Hilarey Wojtowicz Opinions Editor The Lions dove into the NCAA Division III Championships in Minneapolis with outstanding performances, placing the men’s swimming team at sixth in the nation with 193 points and the women’s at ninth overall with a total of 108 points.

Sophomore Laura Pierce received All-America honors on the women’s team for her sixth place finish in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 56.11 seconds. Pierce also received honorable mention for her time of 51.85 seconds in the 100-yard freestyle, placing 13th overall. Freshman Kayleigh Shangle also gained All-America honors with her fifth place finish of 1:04.56 in the 100-yard breaststroke. Shangle was the only freshman to swim in the race.

For the men, it was sophomore Mike Vernoia who led the Li-

ons to place in the top of many events after finishing second in the 500-yard freestyle on Wednesday with a time of 4:25.28, breaking his own school record and earning All-America honors.

Vernoia also finished second in the 200-yard free, posting a time of 1:38.80.

“Breaking this school record on the first night of finals really rallied the team to swim great,” freshman Adam Schneider said.

Schneider placed 11th in the 50-yard free with a time of 20.52 in order to gain honorable mention. However, it was in the 200-yard medley relay that Schneider, along with seniors Myles O’Connor and James VanBiervliet, and junior Shawn Kircher, collected All-American honors. The team posted a time of 1:31.45 in the relay to take fifth overall.

O’Connor also collected All-American honors for his second

Inside

46 53 Around the Dorm page 25

Lions offense awakes page 21

see NATIONALS page 21

College splits double-header page 23

Photo courtesty of the Sports Information Desk

Sophomore Laura Pierce was awarded All-America honors after finishing sixth overall in the 100-yard butterfly.

Lacrosse wins twice page 21

Men’s Tennis

Lions’ tennis shuts out Muhlenberg at home

Fernandez seals victory over Swarthmore with clutch win

By Brandon Gould Sports Assistant After spending Spring Break playing matches in Orlando the College’s men’s tennis team returned to the Northeast by splitting two games at home against Muhlenberg College and Kalamazoo College and also picking up a victory on the road against Swarthmore College.

“Playing outside in Florida during this

Tim Lee / Photo Editor

Fernandez reaches for the ball.

time of year is usually a little different than of T.J. Riley and Dean Thompson, added playing outside in New Jersey,” said head doubles victories. coach Scott Dicheck. “We were looking to On Sunday the Lions would fall on the win, but also looking to work on playing other side of a 5-4 battle in a loss to Kaloutside and getting into a rhythm.” amazoo College.

The Lions’ return to Ewing couldn’t The Lions led the Hornets 2-1 after have gone any better as they shutout doubles play was over, but the Hornets Muhlenberg College 9-0 on Wednesday. edged out the Lions by taking four out of However, the Lions most exciting match the six singles matches. of the week took place on the road against “We’ve had four matches this year Swarthmore College on Saturday as they come down to a 5-4 decision,” Dicheck slipped past the Garnet by a score of 5-4. said. “You’re going to win some and lose Sophomore Steven Fernansome, but they’re competing Mules 0 hard.” dez sealed the victory as he 9 churned out an unforgettable Lions The Lions doubles play performance against sophomore Lions looked promising as two of the 5 Steven Youngblood. three doubles teams finished the 4 week 3-0 in doubles play. The Garnet “I just knew the team needed a win,” Fernandez said. “So I Hornets 5 team of Riley and Thompson just told myself to do it for the Lions 4 won their match against the team basically.”

Hornets 8-5, while the team of The two first singles players were the Lee and Yu pulled out a nail-biting 9-8 only ones left on the court as their teams victory. were tied 4-4. Youngblood started out Lee and Yu played each point hard as strong by taking the first set 6-4, but Fer- they went back and forth with senior Joe nandez responded by winning the second Unger and freshman Steve Hanselman unset 6-4. til the Lion duo was able to close out the The third set did not look to be in the match.

Lions’ favor as Fernandez fell behind 4-2, “I was serving well and Jon was returnbut the sophomore rallied to take the final ing well,” said Lee. “We just took over the four points and the set by a score of 6-4. net. I think we kind of shocked them and “In that spot you have to fight for ev- they couldn’t really do anything. In the ery point and give it your all,” Fernandez end, we just pulled through by being more said. aggressive.”

Junior Dan Lee and freshman Keith Lee also finished the week 3-0 in sinGoldstein also contributed singles vic- gles play as he took two sets, 6-3 and 6-2, tories, while the team of Lee and junior against Unger.

Jonathan Yu, as well as the freshman pair “It’s just about staying focused,” Lee

Tim Lee / Photo Editor

Junior captain Jonathan Yu. said. “The whole team is pretty close, so we drive each other to perform at our bests.”

The Lions will look to improve their 4-3 record as they head to Geneva, New York to face St. Lawrence University and Hobart College on March 27.

“We’re still in good position to make it to the NCAAs,” Dicheck said. “We just have to keep competing and fighting and do what we have to do to get into the NCAAs.”