Mutter Museum

Written and Experienced by, Yours Truly, Horace Leung.

Eight dollars for a day at the Mutter Museum? Hmmm… I must say, it was an eight dollars well spent. Whether or not you have seventeen different things to do, like projects, exams, quizzes or anything else, this was a pretty amazing field trip to a place not so ordinary (I would have used a better word to describe the Mutter Museum, but it was just too difficult. You will understand when you go visit.). For those who didn’t go, you probably didn’t see the variations in skull structures in the different provinces of Italy, or the outrageous skin deformities and diseases that were represented and preserved at the Mutter Museum, but it’s fine. There’s always next year.

This one hour trip to the Mutter Museum, in the hustle and bustle city of Philadelphia, was a great escape from the beautiful pinelands surrounding Stockton where we were able to walk around the city, learn more about El Dia de Los Muertos, or be blown away by the various exhibits at the Mutter Museum. There were just so many options. As for the Mutter Museum, there were many skulls of humans and other species, chucks of skin with various diseases on them, developing fetuses, tumors, and objects extracted from people’s throats and stomachs. Because there this field trip was held at this time of the year, we were able to learn more aobut the cultural event called “The Day of the Dead” where there were activities to decorate skull cookies, and make tissue paper flowers, or just enjoy a nice cup of rich hot chocolate from the crazy weather (snow in October! I guess Fall dressed up as Winter for Halloween). If you are into these types of things, there were so many other “interesting” (still in lack of a better word) types of displays like Chinese Siamese twins who married two sisters and had 21 children, and the various instruments used during the origin of medical practice.

All in all, there was never a dull moment during this field trip and I definitely recommend this to anyone who is interested to go next year if you want to see something extremely out of the ordinary.

 

Mutter Museum

On Saturday, October 29, there was a trip to the Mutter
Museum in Philadelphia. The majority of students who went to the museum were
students in the honors Life of the Mind class, however there were other
students who took advantage of the trip. The bus left Stockton College around
nine forty-five in the morning and got back around six in the afternoon. The
students arrived at the museum, received their tickets, and went their separate
ways to explore the museum. All of the students found at least one thing, if
not many, that interested them. The museum held many interesting collections of
objects, including skeletons and molds of deformed twins and a skeleton of a
giant man. Along with various abnormal skeletons, the museum held drawers full
of objects that people had swallowed, an enormous colon, and jars of fetuses at
different stages of development.

Although there were many interesting things in the museum, it only consisted of two
small floors, and most of the students were finished looking around within two
hours. The museum was also celebrating the Day of the Dead, and the activities for
it occupied some more of the students time. The museum sponsored a
cookie-decorating activity, where the cookies were shaped like skulls, paper
flower-making, and a guest speaker who talked about the Day of the Dead. After
exploring the museum, and making cookies and flowers, most students headed out
to find lunch. A large number of honors students ate at a nearby pizza
restaurant and then returned back to the museum. By that point there was still
about two and a half hours left before the students were scheduled to come back
to the bus. Some students stayed at the museum, participating in further
activities, but others broke off and left to explore the city, despite the cold
weather. In the end, all of the students were back in time for the bus, and each
of them had a very interesting day.

Mutter Museum

On October 29th, a number of students took a bus to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to visit the Mutter Museum. The trip was structured around the current Freshman Honors Life of the Mind class, linking the discussed body and mind arguments of Descartes with the exhibits of different bodies and their strange deformities at the museum. While there, students and faculty viewed many displays, some being much stranger than others. The exhibits included several conjoined/Siamese twins, many molds of skin diseases, human horns, malformed skeletons, dried bodies, and many other unique displays.
In celebration of the Day of the Dead, El Diá de los Muertos, the museum hosted several small events. These included skull cookie decorating, tissue-paper flower making and a speaker. Several Mexican dishes were also offered to the visitors that day, including chips and salsa, mango lemonade, and several others.
Having some free time, students also took an opportunity to explore some of the city. While the weather seemed to take a turn for the worst, bringing a mixture of rain, snow, and hail despite the time of year, the students still managed to do a bit of sightseeing. However, the weather did finally become a strong enough deterrent and the groups made their ways back to the museum, where many tissue-paper flowers were made. Overall, the trip was very interesting and offered a much needed break from the mundane schedule of college.

A Day at the Mütter Museum

On Saturday, October 29, there was a trip to the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia. The trip was exciting and very educational. While the museum itself was small, the exhibits themselves were fascinating. On the topmost floor were the skulls of different creatures: bears, tigers, domestic cats, dogs, and different monkeys and apes. There was also a wall of human skulls staring at visitors, each with a little card stating the name of the person who the skull belonged to, their race, their gender, their occupation and how they died.

On the bottom floor there was a room with the skeleton of a 7’6” man towering over the visitors. There was also a colon that weighed 40 pounds, and the exhibit showed a picture of the man where it came from. Across the room was a corset, a popular fashion statement for women On either side of the corset were the skeletons of two women, their rib cages flattened severely from long term use of the item. There was also a set of drawers filled with things that people swallowed. Everything from dentures, to safety pins, to bottle caps, to coins, to buttons was in there. There was also an ovarian cyst that weighed 70 pounds. Lining the walls were fetuses that were deformed and died in the womb.

Overall, the trip was very fun and informative. The museum was interesting even though it was smaller than most other museums. Because it was the Day of the Dead, there were little activities on the side that included making paper flowers, and decorating skull cookies. The only problem was something that was out of human control, the weather. It was snowing, hailing, and was too cold for anyone to go anywhere too far to eat or to explore the city. Those that did came back shivering and soaking wet, while the rest of the students huddled in the museum

8th Annual Day of Service at Stockton College- Mire Ministries

On September 10th, many Stockton College students and faculty members gathered in the Campus Center early in the morning, eager to offer their volunteer services at Stockton’s 8th Annual Day of Service. A wide variety of service projects were performed both on and off campus, with some students traveling to the Noyes Museum in Oceanville, NJ, the Absecon Lighthouse, and other locations. I was involved with Mire Ministries and worked both on and off campus to help bring food to the hungry at Brown Park in Atlantic City.
Led by Pastor Ray Laird and his wife, Beverly Laird, the group of about twenty people assembled to begin the job. Many of the group’s volunteers were current members of the Stockton Christian Fellowship and were familiar with the tasks ahead of them. Those who were unfamiliar with the food runs were welcomed and introduced to the group. With many helping hands, we brought in loaves of bread, cases of water, peanut butter, jelly, paper bags, bananas, cookies, totes, and napkins into the Campus Center Event Room and set up work stations to begin assembling bagged lunches to bring to the park. Working as an assembly line, some members of the group made sandwiches while others put bananas, water, and snacks in brown bags. After creating approximately two hundred lunches, the group went to the Mire Ministries van carrying filled totes: some filled with meals, some with socks.
After a twenty minute drive to the park, we set up tables to serve as stations for handing out lunches and socks to those in need. Many people were at the park in response to fliers that were put up about the free lunch. Although another group was offering hot food to the hungry, lines quickly started at the tables as people waited to get bagged lunches and new, clean socks. Many people approached the table with smiling faces as they expressed gratitude for the time and effort that the group had invested. In addition to attending tables, some students cleaned up garbage around the park, while others walked around the park greeting people and handing out food. Quickly, there was no more food or socks to distribute and we departed for our return to Stockton College.
This experience was very new to me, as well as to several members of the group, and proved to be quite memorable. Other students and I were able to see the result of the work that we performed as we witnessed the gratitude of the hungry that gathered in the park. Pastor Ray Laird explained that the Stockton Christian Fellowship makes such trips on Saturdays once a month. Those who enjoy helping others and interacting with those in need directly may find this experience extremely rewarding and eye-opening.

Spirituality & Religious Opression

Spirituality and religious oppression are subjects that have brought about great tension worldwide since the beginning of humanity. To bring some of the conflicts that arise from religion and its many different forms, Daniel Tomé held a dialogue session on October 25th in the Arts & Sciences building. This was part of a series of sessions that Tomé has held, and will continue to have over the course of the semester.
During this dialogue, the group present watched several video clips relating to current tensions and quarrels being held over spirituality and religion. These included clips from the Daily Show commenting on Islam vs. Christianity vs. Judaism and one on Mormonism vs. Christianity. Other clips included a short interview of a Muslim American’s reaction to 9-11, and yet another, the controversial television show Sister Wives. All of these clips showed the tension that lies between just a few of the many religions that are present in our country alone, and the problems that ensue as a result. After viewing the short video clips, the group answered several questions about their own religions. The questions were on a yes and no basis, and students answered yes by stepping into a circle that was formed by the group members. The answers included whether one went to church or temple, if one needed to eat specially prepared food, if one felt he/she was the minority or majority in their K-12th grade school systems, etc.
After this set of questions was answered, a discussion was held to see what each person felt about the videos that were viewed in the beginning of the session. Many points and valid opinions were brought up. These included how religion and its conflicts are often taken as a joke, how each religion can feel it is the absolute truth, how arguments are often held over minute differences while similarities are ignored, how common ground is often found only on the basis of hating a third party, and many other important observations.
What all of this focused on was the fact the hatred between different religions seems to be amplified rather than quelled on a regular basis. The only way different religions and spiritual practices can hope to coexist is to first stop searching for the differences in others and try to find similarities that can unite different groups. This does not mean that a utopian world is around the corner, but that there is always a better direction to head in.

Freshamn Convocation

I had the pleasure of attending the freshman Convocation in Stockton’s Performing Arts Center on September 23, 2011.  Our speaker was John Thorn, the official MLB Historian.  Thorn explained how he grew up in a displaced person’s camp for the Holocaust.  Thorn learned the English language from the backs of baseball cards.

Thorn began speaking about a full range of topics such as a man named Rothstein, The Great Gatsby and our freshman reading book Shoeless Joe.  After simply listening and taking notes, I began to see where Thorn was leading the audience; everything was connected!  The Black Sox scandal was a part of The Great Gatsby and Shoeless Joe.  A man named Rothstein was the mastermind of the scandal in real life, while Wolfsheim was the character depicted as Rothstein in the Great Gatsby.  On the subject of Shoeless Joe, Thorn regarded it as a great book.  On the surface, it seems that Shoeless Joes is only about baseball, yet the themes make it so much more than that.  Thorn explained this by saying, “Baseball is not about baseball…at least not entirely.”

Thorn concluded the speech by telling us to follow our dreams and convictions and to also take risks.  John Thorn is a master of Q and A which followed the speech.  One audience member asked what team Thorn thought would win the World Series this year.  Thorn replied the Phillies which obviously pleased the crowd by their applause.  Sadly his prediction will not come true this year.  All in all, it was a great speech and welcome to the incoming freshmen.

Dracula: A Ballet of Dark Enchantment

On this very night of October 27, a darkly enchanting ballet, Dracula, was performed in the Performing Arts Center by the Atlantic City Ballet.  Out of the 24 stunning dancers, only 4 were from America.  The talent was spectacular. The ballet was based off of Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula, written over 100 years ago.  The story is deep, dark, enchanting, seductive, full of love, and full of hate.

When the story begins, Dracula rises from his coffin, surrounded by his three favorite wives.  With the conspicuous, red outfit he wears, it is easy to discern who he is and his ties with blood.  A young lawyer, Jonathan Harker, must go to Dracula’s castle in order to get some papers signed, and he heeds none of the warnings the peasants bombard him with. Dracula sees a picture of Mina, Jonathan’s fiancee, and he is incredibly attracted to her.  He makes Jonathan his prisoner while he goes to England to search for Mina.

Mina is with her friend Lucy in England, and Lucy is trying to find a suitor.  She finally does, but eventually, Dracula comes to shake things up.  Both Lucy and Mina are entranced by Dracula, and when he finds out that Jonathon has escaped his castle and married Mina, Dracula is outraged.  He drains Lucy of her blood and makes her a vampire instead.  Her change into a vampire is obvious with the costume she wears of red and black.

Dr. Van Helsing helps Lucy’s fiancee and some of his friends stake her heart.  Then they set out with Jonathon to find Dracula, but when they return to the jail where they left Mina, she is in Dracula’s embrace being fed upon.  He escapes to his castle, and Mina gives Van Helsing and the others a map to find Dracula.

When they all arrive at Dracula’s castle, the wives lay in wait.  They are all staked through the heart, and finally, Van Helsing rips Dracula form his coffin and ends his life as well.  Mina is heartbroken and refuses to return to Jonathon.  She realizes that she loved Dracula.  Even more, she has become a vampire as well, for when the ballet ends, she retreats to Dracula’s former coffin and slams shut the lid, claiming it as her own.

The entire story contains no dialogue, only music and ballet.  The dancers are skillful, each dancing gracefully despite the weight or malfunctions of their costumes.  The changing colors of the lights really added to the tension and bloody fights of the play.  The use of fog machines also added to the chilling, vampric feel of the entire story.  This ballet was an incredible feat.

I had been looking forward to this ballet for over a month, and I was not disappointed!  The dancers were phenomenal, and the music really brought the emotion alive that dialogue could not.  The story of Dracula was retold in an entirely new way, and it caught me up in its enchanting embrace one again.

Blog 6: Osprey Ball

The perfect way to end homecoming week is with a dance.  On October 15th, the Osprey Ball was held to bring homecoming to a close.  The Student Senate was taking free pictures, which was a very nice gesture and an excellent way to remember the dance.  The dance offered sparkling cider in fancy glass to make us all feel fancy.  The food offered was different, tasty, and plentiful.  The dance was 70’s themed and I feared that all the music who be from the 1970’s.  Luckily, the organizers of the dance picked an excellent DJ that kept the dance modern while sticking to the 70’s theme.  He played popular modern music for us to dance to but would occasionally throw in some classic 70’s tunes that everyone knew and would sing to keep us in the 70’s theme.  The music was amazing, staying mostly upbeat and energetic with the occasional slowing down to give us a break and to get close to our dates.  The dance was a ton of fun and I am definitely going next year.

 

Blog 5: Roberto Clemente

On October 14th we were lucky enough to listen to a speech given by one of Roberto Clemente’s close friends about his life.  I already knew some information about Roberto Clemente: he was a Puerto Rican baseball player that played for the Pittsburg Pirates as a right fielder.  But this presentation about him had me learn so much more.  He played professional baseball starting in 1952 and his jersey number is 21 because it is the letters in his name (Roberto Clemente Walker).  After he was a ball player he wanted to become a chiropractor because he had sleeping troubles and he wanted to make other people more comfortable to get better sleep.  He had a great sense of humor and was a very good person that was very active in charity work.  I learned he died in a plane crash on the way to Nicaragua.  He was on the plane to help deliver goods to the victims of an earthquake that devastated Nicaragua.  I also learned that Puerto Rico is a very impoverished commonwealth of America and 60% of the engineers in NASA are Puerto Rican.  We also had the honor of meeting Roberto Clemente’s son, who was kind enough to shake our hands and take pictures with us.