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OCT | 2018 WWW.KUTOWER.COM
TH E I N DEPEN D EN T VOI C E O F KE AN U N IV E R S IT Y
A Veteran Lifestyle
Photo by Louis Valderrama
Louis Valderrama, Kean University Student Veteran
By Kelly Contreras Just a few years ago, Louis Valderrama was working on a MaxxPro vehicle designed to withstand explosive device attacks. Today, you can find him in class, taking courses in Public Administration. Valderrama was in the U.S. Army for four years and is now one of 256 veterans studying at Kean University. He is currently working on a second bachelor’s degree in Public Administration and is expected to graduate this spring. Some veterans had poor experiences in the military and get uncomfortable discussing them. But 29-year-old Valderrama saw the army as a positive experience. “[The Army] does change you as a person, I want to say, mentally because you’re so used to the culture you are living in,” Valderrama said. It even changed him physically. Valderrama went into the service at 130 pounds and came out 200 pounds. “Our sergeants were prior physical fitness trainers so they would take me to the gym every day and tell me what to eat,” Valderrama said. He credits the service with teaching him discipline, structure and improved time management skills. “... It was definitely a shock when I first went in,” said Valderrama. “because right off the bat, they try to break you down. They want you to have that military bearing so they want you to think as a team and work as a team so they can give you a bunch of obstacles to complete whether it be physically [or] mentally.” At first, the given tasks are not getting completed. But this structure was for troops to be able to work without hesitation. Hesitation can put a stop in a plan and lead to harming your team.
This system challenges you to think ahead and plan out what you are going to do and how. In the army, he was stationed in Fort Jackson, South Carolina for basic training and then went to Fort Bliss in Michigan to work with contractors at Navistar. He was in Fort Benning in Georgia for two years and he was also in Texas at one point. While in Michigan he had to work with civilians on a MaxxPro vehicle which was designed to protect those inside the vehicle from an improvised explosive device (IED) attack. He needed to take apart the vehicle top to bottom, reassemble it, and have any task given to them completed on a deadline. This kind of work forced many to become structured in a manner where they can handle a lot of pressure and having a deadline that may as well be 30 minutes from the moment they received the task. Valderrama joined the Army in 2014 after ggraduating from Montclair State University with a dual degree in animation and illustration. At that time, he was interning at Marvel Comics where he discovered animation wasn’t what he had imagined. He decided to sign up for the military because he wanted to see the world. Today, when he’s not in class, he works in the Kean University Veteran Student Services Office, where he assists veterans in applying for their benefits online and guiding them through the process. Although the Veteran Student Services Office does not provide tutoring, Valderrama, when he has free time, personally tutors any veteran who needs help, including helping veterans to pick out their classes. He is also very civil-minded. He volunteers for Project Adelante at Kean where he is the tutoring mentor for the ESL kids. During the summer, he worked in Elizabeth at Proceed, Inc., where they have a homeless prevention program. He mainly did case management work, but would occasionally do social work as well. Within this program, even if he, or anyone else in the company could not help, they would still guide them into another company with programs which would assist the family further in their situation. Like others, Valderrama sees both a positive and a negative side to being a veteran. Some pros are that all of his classes are already paid for, they receive the same first pick for classes as athletes do, and the $100 graduation fee is waived. He is currently using his GI Bill post 911, which basically covers his entire tuition. He considers this benefit, not a scholarship, but more like a promise provided by the
Unless necessary, many will not share the fact they are veterans. They don’t like the spotlight.
General Education upset about lack of privacy By Joshua Rosario General Education Studies faculty and staff are upset about a lack of privacy and other issues following a move to an open-concept office in a glass-enclosed space on the first floor of the Center for Academic Success. According to two sources familiar with the General Education department, many of
tables and café style arrangements. The space is shared among General Education lecturers, math tutors and student workers. Also, the Veteran Services office entrance is located inside the space. All of this in one place has led to a “lot of traffic,” sources said. A big issue is the distance between desk spaces, which make it easy to hear nearby conversations and difficult to talk to students who come in
Photo by Joshua Rosario
Photo by Joshua Rosario
Camera inside office above the door entrance
Stickers placed to notify of cameras presence
the faculty and staff feel “disrespected” and “demoralized” by the move made in September from private offices on the second floor in CAS. Sources requested anonymity over concerns about job security. The sources also said that staff are uncomfortable with five security cameras located throughout the open space that they were told are not in use and were installed previously when the office was a public tutoring center. “We have no information about where the (camera) feed is going,” one source said. “Is it actually recording, or is it just somebody watching? We don’t know who’s watching; we don’t know if there’s sound which would be a FERPA violation.” The sources added that there was no notification that cameras existed until recently when a sticker was posted on the front door noting the cameras. FERPA stands for The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which gives students certain rights, privileges and protections relative to individually identifiable student education records maintained by universities. It prevents direct information from a student’s education record from being released without the student’s consent. The football-field sized Room 111 in CAS was redesigned and now features open cubicles for General Education staff. Also redesigned was the hallway or lobby area directly in front of the glassed-in room and it is now a modular work and meeting area for students featuring long
with sensitive topics, sources said. They are especially concerned about the upcoming advisement period. While the staff trusts each other, the sources said the students shouldn’t have to feel forced to trust everyone in the room. Another issue is designated desks for faculty are being used by students. They have come in to find items on their desks rearranged. There is also growing concern over personal belongings being left behind. “There’s no sensitivity for what we need,” said one source. The staff complained to the Kean Federation of Teachers, the union that represents faculty and professional staff, and according to KFT President James Castiglione, the General Education staff has said the workplace situation is so bad the staff feels incapable of doing their jobs. The union contacted Kean about the matter and was told the administration does not have to do anything because the union’s letter of agreement doesn’t require it, he said. Castiglione said that response violates a letter of agreement made in 1974 between the KFT and Kean, that recommends work surroundings. That agreement recommends the college set a goal of an average 100 square feet per faculty member and that faculty offices include floor to ceiling walls to allow faculty to hold private conferences, preparation of teaching materials, advisement of students, carry out research activities and consults with other professionals. continued on page 2
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Kean reducing number of credits for academic majors Wants to create opportunities for double majors
By Lena Zhu Kean University is in the process of reducing the number of courses required for academic majors. Currently, most academic majors require anywhere from 36 credits to about 50 credits. During a recent closed meeting with the University Senate, President Dawood Farahi stated that all academic majors should be reduced to about 36 credits, which amounts to about 13 courses. The changes will not apply to certain majors with state preconditions or other accreditation requirements. Dr. Jonathan Mercantini, the acting dean of the College of Liberal Arts, said Kean wants students to be more marketable for employers by taking other elective courses outside of their major. Elective credits can make room for students who want to double major and that will help students become more marketable in the job industry, he said.
“One of the things that I have been talking about quite a lot is the idea of using the liberal arts to develop the skills you need to succeed in the economy,” Dr. Mercantini said, “but then pair that with something else that may make you more employable.” As an example, Dr. Mercantini noted that a major in the College of Liberal Arts may want to minor or double major in business or graphic design. Khushi Sheth, a sophomore majoring in Psychology and Psychiatry Rehabilitation, said she agrees with the new curriculum change. “It would be less stressful for me considering I won’t have to take so many classes and try to balance good grades for each class,” Sheth said. “There would be less stress compared to 40 semester hours.” Helping students in the most efficient way possible was a factor that was considered when making the judgment call on the curriculum change.
“We want our students to be as prepared as possible for the workplace, for qualification exams, for graduate school,” Mercantini said. “But at the same time, we want our students to graduate in a timely manner and to put them in a position to do that. I think it is fully appropriate for us to want our students to graduate in four years. That’s a real mark of success.” This coincides with a recently signed a legislation by Governor Murphy that states, “No more than 120 credits will be required for baccalaureate degree awarded by a public institution and no more than 60 credits for an associate degree,” according to NJ.gov. Currently, Kean University requires 124 credits to graduate. Margie Rosado, a senior studying Communication, with a concentration in Media and Film, said this will help save other students money on tuition. “For me, personally, at this point in my college career, I’m about to be done,” Rosado
Photo by Joshua Rosario
Kean Hall
said. “But if it means saving upcoming students money and it helps them graduate a bit faster, then it can possibly be a good thing.”