On Saturday, October 8th, I attended the 21st annual Osprey Ball which was held during Stockton’s annual University Weekend. This fun-filled homecoming weekend was packed with activities for families, students and alumni to participate in such as the Osprey Ball and the Street Fair. Students and their guests were invited to wear semi-formal attire to the Osprey Ball which took place in the Campus Center Event Room. Before the ball began, everyone was busy getting ready for the festivities by looking for an outfit to wear, putting on makeup and finding the perfect hairstyle. However, that night it was pouring rain, so guests had to quickly make their way to the Campus Center to avoid ruining their attire.

When students and their guests arrived at the Osprey Ball they were greeted and checked in to the event by staff members. When everyone first walked into the Event Room there was a DJ and a lot of people dancing with their friends on the dance floor to remixes of well-known pop songs among other types of music. There was also a photo booth which was probably one of my favorite parts of the Osprey Ball. The photo booth had a lot of weird hats and masks that you could wear while taking funny pictures with your friends. Most importantly, there was a ton of food at the ball including chicken tenders, pigs in a blanket and of course a giant cake and other desserts. I definitely can say that I did not leave the ball hungry.

Overall, I had a fantastic time at the Osprey Ball this year and I made another great college memory. Although I did not enjoy running through the pouring rain to get to the ball, I did love dancing with my friends and my sister and taking pictures in the photo booth with them. I also had fun eating endless amounts of cake and getting all dressed up for the Osprey Ball. I look forward to attending this University Weekend event next year.

On Friday, November 18th, I attended the Rioult performance to watch the Rioult Dance Company from New York, New York perform a collection of dances for the Stockton community. The event was held in the Stockton Performing Arts Center and the audience eagerly waited for the performance to begin. Even though I was required to attend this event for several of my dance classes, I was excited to see this company dance for the first time. The Rioult Company consists of nine core members and the founder Pascal Rioult, who creates all of the pieces for the company. The choreography of the company is based around the Graham modern dance technique, which focuses on the contraction and release of the spine in movement.

The Rioult performance really surprised me and caught my attention because the company projected images behind the dancers as they performed each piece. The overall theme of the performance was based around nature and the images behind the dancers changed based upon the theme of the dance. I also enjoyed watching the dancers convey the different themes of nature in each piece through the utilization of movement, emotions, costuming, background changes and lighting. The Rioult company did an outstanding job in bringing nature alive and engaging the audience throughout the performance. Overall, I felt as though there was never a dull moment in their dance concert and I would recommend this performance to anyone who is interested in dance or even the arts in general. Hopefully, I will able to see the Rioult Dance Company perform again in the future because I loved watching them dance!

On December 2nd 2016, Stockton Environmental and Sustainable Community hosted an event in solidarity of the situation in Standing Rock, North Dakota. The Dakota Access Pipeline, a part of the Bakken pipeline project, is an underground oil pipeline project in the United States. The pipeline is being planned by Dakota Access, a subsidiary of the Dallas, Texas, corporation Energy Transfer Partners. It begins in the Bakken oil fields in northwest North Dakota and is set to travel in a straight line through South Dakota and Iowa, and end at the an oil tank farm near Patoka, Illinois.  The pipeline was originally routed across the Missouri River near Bismarck; however, this was rejected because of the route’s proximity to waterways and roads in this area. The predominantly white area, fearful of contamination and an oil spill, were successful in moving the pipeline to another location, which would end up being the Sioux Reservation.

As the pipeline began construction, the Sioux Indians were concerned with an oil spill that would contaminate their water, and the location of the pipeline that would be so near to their sacred burial grounds. The Sioux began to peacefully protest the pipeline, facing intense retaliation from law enforcements who used military weapons and gases to disrupt the peaceful protestors. Many protesters were imprisoned for trespassing, including the Sioux who were in their land that had been privatized for capital gain. The event commemorated the struggles of the Sioux and their ongoing challenge for the right to clean water. We began by creating posters with powerful messages for the protest across campus towards the end of the event. Several professors  gave empowering speeches about the injustices committed against Native Americans since America was colonized and how, perhaps, it is too late to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline, but if it is the Sioux today, it will be us tomorrow. The event was very empowering and beautifully organized. It was clear that the people who attended were passionate about the issue. Everyone is ready to combat the situation in their own way whether it be donating, protesting, or going to Standing Rock. This event left me feeling ready to take on issues such as this that are a clear violation of people’s rights, and wanting to join Stockton Environmental and Sustainability group.

On October 13^th at 8:30 pm, Stockton had a viewing of Seth Rogan’s new film, Sausage Party. The event was organized by SET, the Student Entertainment Team, and was held in the Campus Center Theater. This event was a really cool way to spend a weekend night with friends. The movie was an hour and a half long, which is was a decent amount of time; it wasn’t too long where people would get fidgety but it was long enough to occupy time that people would have spent being bored otherwise.

Before starting the movie, everyone got their snacks that were provided at the event; It was cool because this event was like going to the movies except it was free. The actual movie, like most products of Seth Rogan, relied on shock factors and innuendo. Sausage Party is an American adult computer-animated comedy so my friends and I knew right off the bad it would be interesting. It was an odd movie that I couldn’t say was bad or good; it was definitely different from any movie I’d seen before.

This movie screening is a regular event here at Stockton and it also appears to be a popular event. They make sure to get recent movies that students are interested in. It’s a great activity for you and your friends if you’re bored on a Friday or Saturday night. I look forward to move nights of films I either missed when they were in theater or that I didn’t feel like spending money on a ticket for.

My third, and favorite thus far, event was the election results viewing party. I had already attended the first and third debate watching parties, and this event really seemed like the culmination of those. The debate parties had refreshments, but the results party had the normal refreshments and beverages with pizza as an added bonus, and a lot of it because the turnout for this event was rather impressive. Much like the debate viewings, the projector was set up with a livestream of the results from CNN. Updates, analysis, and projections from every election came pouring in. I truly will never forget this event. Everyone in that room was watching history. We were watching a new leader be chosen by the American people state by state. Many may find this boring, but I found it positively riveting. It really felt special, like we were watching one of the most significant events of our lifetimes.
This crowd’s political views seemed to be a tad more diverse than the viewing parties had been. The table I was at actually had far more Trump voters than Hillary voters, with a ratio of seven Trump to two Hillary. Because of this, the cheers were less one sided. Each time a state’s result was announced, there was a mix of reactions from the crowd. For some, relief. For others, total terror. Many are quite scared of what a Trump presidency may bring, so as it became increasingly clear that all the polls and predictions were wrong, there was a distinct tension that became apparent in the room. People on both sides were a little more anxious, some excited, but everyone seemed to be aware of the gravity of what they were witnessing. I did not stay for the results as I’m one of the people who are a little nervous about the president-elect, so my roommate and I dejectedly decided to view the rest of the results in our dorm. Be that as it may, it was still an unforgettable event and I still had a great time (for most of it).

My second event at Stockton University was the viewing party for the third presidential debate between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton. I attended the first one and missed the second. The event was run pretty much exactly like the first, and I assume second, party was ran. Refreshments were provided, debate bingo was played (and I won!), and, of course, the debate was projected onto the big screen. A much needed improvement of the first party was that the audio was much better. It was quite hard to hear at the first viewing party, and everyone in attendance needed to keep extremely quiet if the audience wanted to hear what the candidates were saying. These parties really excited me because of the environment they provided. Watching the debates were mandatory for class, so being able to join a big group with fellow students was really awesome.

Overall, I enjoyed the third viewing party even more than the first! It was really exciting to watch. I had never been in to politics before, as I really felt it was futile to keep up with them, because it can be daunting, and because before this year I did not have a vote, so I really didn’t see the point. I’m so glad I got interested this year though, and I credit Stockton University for really moving me to actively engage in this election. I was so interested with the process, the candidates, the ups and downs, and just everything about the election process in this nation. So much so, in fact, that I have decided to declare a minor in political science. It was really a blast to be a part of this event. The majority of the crowd was seemingly very liberal, which I expected. Clinton’s victories earned her rapturous cheers, while Trump’s blunders garnered him laughs and jeers. Being liberal myself, I fit right into this environment, but I would’ve rather had a more even split of views, as I think diverse schools of thought and civil discourse are the only way to get anywhere in politics.

Damian Majewski

On September 26, I attended the party for the political debate in the Campus Center Board of Trustees.  This event was run by professional staff members of the political science department at Stockton.  At this event, I was greeted with light refreshments and was able to meet others interested in watching our country fall apart.  Since these debates featuring the current candidates could be considered a joke, the viewing was accompanied with a bingo board.  While many of the phrases on it pertained to Trump and his shenanigans like ‘You’re fired’ and ‘China,’ Clinton had some such as ‘emails.’  During the debate,  topics such as Social Security and third Parties never came up, which defeats the purpose of creating a national televised debate for those issues. What surprised me most about this debate is that is was not aired on Comedy Central.  Although a small amount of informative statements happened during the debate, the main focus was on the two candidates.  I found that the debate was centered more around personal attacks, rather than the candidates focusing on the topics.  Some of their comments were quite entertaining such as “Trumped up, trickle down economics”, attacks at Trump for his tax releases, and Clinton’s email scandal.  I found the event itself to be put together well with the inclusion of another projector displaying live tweets on the debate all night.  The highlight of the night was when the debate closed and they announced that the upcoming one would be held in Arizona, which was the last word I needed for bingo.  With three debates left before people head out to the polls, I am excited to attend another one of these events.