The Day of Scholarship was held on March 22nd, 2012 and it held a variety of presentations by students and faulty.  The presentation I attended was called People’s Court: Too Much Mickey or Not Enough Mickey?  The presentation was run by Professor Beverly “Bev” Vaughn and some of her students from her choir class.  In the presentation she was the moderator and she had three students on the side of “pro-Mickey” and three students on the side of “against-Mickey.”  The three students presented their arguments that varied from Disney makes us happy and has us express ourselves to Disney has women dependent on men and leads to domestic abuse.  Professor Bev had us jump up and cheer “Go Mickey!” if we agreed with the point or point our thumbs down and yell “Donald Duck!” if we disagreed.  We discussed if the over abundance of Disney in our childhood made us happier or just drain our parents of money.  At the end the audience could give their points.  The whole presentation was loud and lively and was a lot of fun.  The entire time I was laughing at the antics of the room, while also seeing the different sides of a cultural argument.

On March 22, 2012 Stockton held its 12^th Annual Day of Scholarship. This day is dedicated to the presentations of both students and faculty alike. To begin the day, the Provost’s Welcome by Harvey Kesselman was held in the Campus Center Event Room. Afterwards, presentations were held throughout the campus at locations including the Campus Center Event Room, Campus Center Theater, multiple Campus Center meeting rooms, and several classrooms in the F wing.

While some of the presentations were presented in the form of speakers and power points, many were poster sessions. It was the poster session in the Campus Center Event Room that I had the privilege of viewing. Some of the posters represented local organizations. These included: The Atlantic County Department of Public Safety and Office of Emergency Preparedness (focused on the safety and education of the public on disasters and necessary responses), Arc Angels (hopping to improve the lives of intellectual and developmental disabilities in Atlantic County), South Jersey Field of Dreams (a non-profit org. based out of Absecon, NJ allowing physically and cognitively challenged children enjoy baseball), The Atlantic City Rescue Mission (advertising their Family Fun Run/Walk and their goal of ending homelessness), and many others.

Other posters featured current studies being done. These included: The Effects of Physical Activity on Achievement in School-aged Children, Interactive Instructional Technology Utilizing Mobi Pads, Sediment Characterization of New Jersey’s Coastline, and much more. Two displays that I found particularly interesting were Investigation of Underwater Hearing and the display of Ornithischia: Ankylosauridea. The first was a study based on human hearing under water. The goal was to investigate how the solidity of the human skull and the path of pressure waves to electrical stimulus in the brain would affect human hearing under water when compared to hearing in air. The latter was an interesting poster on new finds and discoveries of the dinosaur Ankylosaurous. Along with the informative poster was a display of several fossils of the creature.

Throughout the day, many interesting exhibits, sessions, and presentations were held exhibiting the talent and efforts of the many faculty and students of Richard Stockton. The Day of Scholarship allowed these individuals to show others what they have been doing, and spread the word on many interesting topics. I hope that this day continues to be part of the Richard Stockton calendar, for its beneficial opportunities are quite noticeable, and the impact on the college community quite intellectual.

The 12th Annual Day of Scholarship is being held today, March 22, 2012, in the Campus Center Event Room and elsewhere around the college to showcase the projects of several students and faculty members.  This is done through the Grants Office.

Though there were several presentations going on, I could only attend the poster displays (for I had to run due to my trip).  There would even be a Disney presentation by Beverly Vaughn around 2pm, but I have to miss it!  Luckily for me, however, when I first walked into the event room and saw all the posters, a grad student I have been acquainted with through his dealings with Stockata caught my attention.  I was swept into the world of Doug Lykes’s project on ‘Investigation of Underwater Acoustics.’  Now I am no Computer Science major or grad student, but what he did have to say was very interesting, for there was a lot of it that I understood.

The main point of the project was to see if the human skull was rigid or flexible.  A way to do this was to see how the skull reacted to sound waves under water and above it.  Doug talked about doing research in Connecticut for this project with machines Woo and John the Baptist.  It was very interesting to see just the wacky names they gave the machines.  As he said, scientists are definitely a little strange.  Especially when they name things!

Doug also talked about bone vibrators that were used to see that when sound vibrated the the bone if the skull was rigid or flexible.  Interestingly enough, he said that when viewed from above, a low sound was able to make the head of a person contract forwards and backwards.  At a bit of a higher tone, it contracts and expands along the sides.  Then when a very high sound his heard, the skull contracts forwards and backwards, then contracts and expands along the sides.  However, this was only observed from the top looking down on a person’s head, so it’s also interesting to wonder if the skull contracts up and down as well.

Doug also had some interesting little fun facts besides those about the machines’ names.  For instance, he told me about how ants secret a little bubble of sugar on each of their feet in order to climb up walls.  He also told me how a gecko climbs up things by making a large amount of force between the hairs on its feet and a wall.  He even told me how when he and the scientists were in Connecticut, they made Da Vinci’s bridge in the middle of a Home Depot with two by fours.  Now while this does not relate to his project, it was all very interesting and taught me a few interesting facts.

Though I did not go to a scheduled presentation, I did get one.  I found it very interesting, especially when we started talking about the ear and vibrations of sound on the bone to make someone hear.  I actually knew a little about that from Psychology.  I would definitely recommend this to anyone, for even though it may seem dull at first, you will actually come out with some interesting knowledge under your belt!

On March 21, Stockton’s Entertainment Team aka S.E.T. hosted a local food competition.  The event was very successful because there were students hanging out outside of the campus center event room patiently waiting for the food’s arrival. If there is free food at an event it is almost guaranteed that the host will have a good turnout because most college students are tired of eating N-Wing, Primo’s, Johnny Rockets, and Mondo’s. The local competitors all brought food in order for Stockton’s students to judge. Chartwells brought pieces of hoagie like turkey and Italian, and Papa John’s pizzas. Jo-Jo’s pizza brought chicken wings, buffalo chicken pizza and barbeque chicken pizza. Napoli Pizza Grill brought pieces of their Napoli chicken sandwich, mild chicken wings and tomato pie. The Napoli chicken sandwich was delicious it had juicy grilled chicken breast strips, red bell peppers, ripe tomatoes, all under a blanket of melted cheese. After the students were allowed to sample all of these various food groups they had to vote on a slip of paper and nominate best pizza, best signature sandwich and best wings. Once all the votes were in there were plaques for the winners in order to give them some recognition for their efforts at the event. It was a really nice atmosphere and a nice night for a little change in your daily routine. If S.E.T. ever hosts another one I would strongly recommend going, you won’t regret it.

March 20, 2012 was Wellness Day, a day to promote health and wellness put on by the Wellness Center in the Campus Center!  Various events and vendors were present to promote health and wellness for students, faculty, and anyone else who wanted to come!

There were various ‘fun’ vendors to draw students, like jewelry, clothes, purses, etc. However, there were also some interesting places.  There was a place to try vitamin C to get students to get their vitamins and show them they weren’t to bad to eat either.  Another station showed how much sugar was in some drinks (which I’ll never drink a certain one ever again), and another even gave blood pressure readings.  Mine was a little low, and that’s when it finally hit me that I had forgotten breakfast.

There were healthy snacks to eat while there.  Fruit salad, grilled chicken, cucumber sandwiches, pita chips with salsa, and spinach dip with bread were some of the healthy snacks to eat while there.  Of course, however, there was more to it than food and vendors. What better way to sooth the soul and cheer you up than listening to some music?

One man played happy tunes on the piano.  I was asked by Gospel Choir to sing an uplifting solo, so I sand Lost Get Found, a song about being yourself, standing out, and helping others through showing your faith.  Then a few members of Gospel Choir, including myself, sang a selection of three songs, one of which I was fortunate enough to have another solo in. We sang Hallelujah Anyhow, a song about praising God even when times were rough, Peace Like A River, a song about having peace because we have God, and God is Great, a song about God’s wonderful love for us.  Being able to participate in this event by doing one of my favorite things, singing, was really a great experience!

I definitely learned a little bit from Wellness Day.  Some of it was a little gross, but it was very informative.  I do feel, however, that if this had been publicized to the students more (many I spoke to did not know it was happening but came to support Gospel Choir and myself), the turnout would have been even better!

On the night of March 19, 2012, the magical story of Cinderella began to unfold as only a ballet can tell it.  This occurred at the PAC, and the Russian National Ballet Theatre performed the stunning ballet in three acts.

The ballet begins with what seems to be the two ugly stepsisters fighting over a piece of fabric that they get dirty and blame on Cinderella.  The Stepmother believes them and brings out her wrath on Cinderella while the Father is passive.  Because she is in rags and her Stepmother really only cares for the stepsisters, Cinderella cannot go to the ball at the Prince’s castle.  However, the Fairy Godmother comes with the Fairies of the Seasons to cheer up Cinderella, and then she gives her glass slippers and a gown.  After catching the Prince’s eye at the ball, she must leave at midnight and leaves behind a glass slipper.  The Prince comes to her home to find who fits int he glass slipper, and the stepsisters try to fit into it with no avail.  The Prince sees that Cinderella fits and loves her despite her rags.  They than get married and live happily ever after.

This ballet was even more beautifully done than Dracula had been.  The costumes were brilliant, many covered in sparkles and shine.  The Prince and Cinderella were easily distinguishable in their sparkling white outfits.  The Fairies of the Seasons each had colors that matched their seasons, and the Fairy Godmother stole attention with her dark purple attire and glitter.

The set was just as wonderfully done.  When the seasons did, the lights changed with it.  The chandeliers flashed in time with the chimes of the clock for midnight, and there were just enough props to add realism to it.

The dancing and characters were of course phenomenal.  The Stepmother was played by a man to make the character even more hysterical and obnoxious.  The man who played the Jester could easily make anyone laugh, and the woman who was Cinderella danced and played her part gracefully.

All in all, this was my favorite PAC performance so far.  As a dancer for 15 years, watching things like this really excite me, and I thoroughly enjoy them!  For any ballets next semester, I will be the first one signed up to go!

As a member of Gospel Choir, I have come to know many people and support them however I can.  I did this when I went to NAACP’s Open Mic night on February 15th and participated to support my Gospel Choir brother.  Practice was canceled, so all of Gospel Choir could go out and show their support for NAACP, for our own David is the president.  The Open Mic was at the Coffee House by Dunkin Donuts in the Campus Center.

At Open Mic night, everything was welcome.  There were rappers, interpretive dancers, singers, piano and ukulele players, a capella singers, poets, etc.  All of the acts were very well done, and some people even went up a few times!  One guy sang and played the ukulele, something I thought I’d never see.  Several members of Gospel Choir also sang a selection while another played the piano for them.

I also sang, after needing lots of encouragement from my Gospel Choir people, for I really do not like singing alone in front of people.  I sang Shark in the Water by VV Brown a capella. It was very nerve racking at first, but I eventually got very into.  People were clapping along to the beat, hooting and hollering, and really just getting into the performance.  The applause I got was huge, and everyone really think I sounded amazing.  I really supported NAACP then!  Gospel Choir also said welcome home.  They were definitely glad to have me.  I was so loud that my one friend at Gamer’s Club on the second floor could hear me.  That was definitely interesting.

All in all, going to events and participating yourself is the most fun, for it builds the most memories and friendships.  Next Open Mic night, I’m there.  Will you be?

On February 2, the Honors Program sponsored a Pizza and Pong night in the Campus Center for any Honors student to come hang out, have fun, and get to better know their fellow Honors comrades.

Free pizza and soda was provided to get some time to get a free meal, relax, and socialize with fellow honors students.  While that was all good and fun, team brackets were made up.  Everyone chose a partner, and the water pong was set up.  6 cups were arranged in a pyramid at each end of the table, filled with water, and each team was given 2 ping pong balls.  Eventually, the pong began!

Christina and I had never played before, and it was a blast!  Everybody was getting wet, and we were doing really well.  Of course, the upperclassman beat us, since they’ve probably done several of these pizza and pong events already.  Even so, it was a lot of fun trying to win.  Even when we were out of the bracket, we still tried to have a one on one match.  We never finished, but it was glorious nonetheless.

All in all, I found this to be a really nice Honors get together.  I would love to do more events like this, for it’s a great way to hang out with all the Honors kids.  This is way more fun than just being in the same classes.  Honors kids hanging out with Honors kids.  What could be more awesome than that?

The second of my ongoing service projects is helping out with the Rain Garden through Water Watch.  The Rain Garden by the Free to Be Center is used to collect water and prevent polluted runoff from leeching into other soil and water supplies.  The plants in the rain garden suck up the water in the garden, so that way it cannot collect pollution and carry it elsewhere.  This Rain Garden is in a low ditch area, so it can better collect the water.

Several trips have been made in order to weed the Rain Garden of weeds, tall grasses, etc. The first trip was merely to survey the garden and see what needed to be done.  The second trip was to weed, the third trip was to weed, and the fourth trip was to finish weeding.  However, on the fourth trip, the trip to weed became a mini Campus Clean Up as well.  We had a bag filled with garden gloves, and we used it to pick up things we found.  The most notable were many beer cans, chicken wire, a pot, a post, a white pipe, and several other things.  It was definitely  interesting.  Then when we finally made it to the Rain Garden, we got some of the biggest weeds ever out of the garden.

Taking some nice big weeds from the rain garden

Of course, there were some very large plots of crab grass as well, and with Megan Cohalan’s help, we were able to dig them out.

The biggest weed yet....

So now you can see that we really did some hard work.  Now all that needs to be done is some planting of colorful annuals, watering, and care taking.  Won’t you join us?