On October twenty-second at 2:10 p.m., I attended a dialogue session entitled From MARS Major to Mars Scientist in L112, a program about Stockton alumna Dina Bower and her professional journey from a marine science major at Stockton University to an astrobiologist. Bower was originally interested in marine chemistry but when offered an opportunity to pursue graduate research in astrobiology didn’t hesitate to seize the opportunity. The accomplished scientist now uses her knowledge of oceanography, chemistry, and geology to attempt to find evidence of previous life on other planets, and she is currently focusing her research specifically on Mars. Bower commenced her presentation by describing her original goals and how she ended up in astrobiology instead and then spent the remainder of the time describing her graduate work and recent research.. Dr. Bower’s speech was incredibly thorough, detailing her experimental designs, describing the equipment used, and including photographs and data charts of her discoveries. Although much of the research was difficult for me to comprehend as a freshman undergraduate, she did keep the audience frequently engaged with pictures, questions, and personal stories. Bower even remained in the room afterward to answer individual questions and allow students to view her collection of rocks from Mars. Overall, it was enlightening to hear about a career I never thought would have been an option for a marine science major!

Akhil Katyal read his poems on campus. Many of the poems he read were written about the cities that he has recently been to since he has been traveling reading his poems. His poems were mainly about places and current issues. The first one he read was about the recent election of Donald Trump. He discussed some of his issues and concerns due to the increase in discrimination of other races and of the LGBT community after the election. He had another poem about Bombay and he discussed a train station there. I really enjoyed his poems and liked how current they were and how some of them talked about current issues. It made them easier to understand and relate to because I knew about the issues in which he discussed from hearing about them all recently.

            After Katyal read his poems the audience had the opportunity to ask him questions. I thought it was interesting that he speaks 4 languages. He writes poems in not only English, but in Hindi. He sometimes even translates his poems between languages and can read them to many different audiences. He also talked about how he has noticed that the poems he writes in English tend to be more melancholy while he feels he is more humorous when he writes in Hindi. Overall, it was very interesting to listen to his poems and learn about the author. The poetry meetings are definitely more interesting than I had originally anticipated since I am not usually interested in poetry. I would recommend going to one and trying it out even if you think you would not be very interested in it.

Alyssa Royce

Professor Michael Rodriguez

The Life of The Mind

2 December 2016

Blog Number Three: Lolla No Booza

Lolla No Booza was an event hosted on October 25th 2016. The event took place before Halloween and served as a fun way for students to enjoy the holiday without the destructive decisions associated with it- namely, alcohol consumption. Underage drinking- as well as drug use- are extremely prevalent during holidays such as Halloween where students gather in large groups to celebrate. I am the treasurer of a club at Stockton called R.I.S.E. A.B.O.V.E, which stands for Ready to Inspire Students to Excel And Better Our Various Experiences. R.I.S.E. A.B.O.V.E is a student led group that promotes good decision making among students and encourages students to succeed and excel. R.I.S.E. A.B.O.V.E. took on Lolla No Booza, helping with costume contests, dance offs, games, mock-tails, and food. I, personally, worked in one of the scare rooms where I stood behind a chair in which people sat and jumped out to scare them. Lolla No Booza is a very interesting and effective way of promoting and facilitating healthy decision making during Halloween. It is important to address the risks and pressures that students are facing in their daily lives, especially when it comes to alcohol consumption. Lolla No Booza was a huge success and I look forward to volunteering there again in the years to come.

As a member of the honors college, it is essential to complete community service to help those in the community. One of the ways I volunteered this semester was by helping raise money for Stockton’s Global Health Team. In order to do this, I went with other members of the club to the Shoprite in English Creek to help the cashiers and bag groceries for customers. Many people were generous enough to donate to the cause. The money raised goes toward the Global Health Team’s annul trip to a country in need of medical assistance. There they bring supplies and assist the doctors and other organization to provide care for the citizens. Last year, they traveled to Nicaragua to help care for the people there. The location for this year’s trip has not yet been determined, but it essential to start the process of raising awareness and funds for the trip as soon as possible.

My time volunteering was spent bagging groceries to raise money for the club. This allowed me not only the chance to help out the club and raise money, but also to be able to interact with others in the community outside of the campus. I look forward to having the opportunity for volunteer for more events sponsored by this club, as I think it is a really important cause.

In the beginning of the semester, there was a panel consisting of eight students that had attended either the Republican National Convention or the Democratic National Convention. These students were accepted into a twelve day seminar where they were required to carry out certain tasks for the convention. I learned how over the course of time, the nature of the conventions have changed. Originally, they were for each party to come together and vote on one person to represent them in the election. Now they are mainly used to advertise the nominee and put on a show that the entire party supports the nominee. This is because the citizens feel more compelled to vote for someone who has the support of their party rather than a person that does not have the backing of whom they are representing. In order to maintain this front of unity, there are many things that go on behind the scenes to ensure that there will be no displays of support for another candidate. For example, all the signs that viewers see on television are made to look like people brought them, but actually, these signs are pre-made and handed out for people to hold. Similarly, booing and negative comments towards the nominee are drown out by shouts of support and praise for them so that there is not an image of the party not agreeing with the nominee. The topic of a third party was also discussed and the conventions basically make it so that the third party never has a chance of publicizing their candidate as much as the main two democratic and republican parties. They could never raise enough money to host a convention, and this is why that it is unlikely a third party candidate would ever win the election. This event opened my eyes to the techniques that modern politics use in order to sway voters one way or another and I think that more events like this would be beneficial to the common voter.

Welcome week is the first series of events that students at Stockton attend. This year it took place from September 2^nd to September 5^th. It introduces students to one another as well as to Stockton. All of the mandatory events not only informed students of the policies of the school, but were entertaining and promoted making friends with new people.

The first event that every student was required to attend was a mixer that introduced people through ice breakers. Although it was strange at first, it promoted meeting new people and moving out of the comfort zone of those that people already knew. It definitely made sense that this was a mandatory event for freshman, as it was a fun way to kick off the start of our time here at Stockton.

I think that the most important mandatory event was the Maximize Your Buzz presentation. As a college student, it is wise to understand and be smart around alcohol, even if they do not plan on drinking. This presentation provided information about alcohol in a realistic manner instead of using scare tactics. The presenter did not try and sway people not to drink, but instead swayed them to drink responsibly.

Although there were many more events that the freshman were required to attend, these were the two that I found the most helpful and important to a student’s first year at Stockton. The events of Welcome Week were all informative, and next year they should keep the events the same as they were this year.

A few weeks ago, on October 30, Stockton hosted the Bay Atlantic Symphony in the Performing Arts Center. They performed Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings in C major, op. 48 and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Requiem Mass in D minor, K. 626.  The symphony did an excellent job, and the pieces were enjoyed by an almost full PAC.

Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings was written nearly 100 years after Mozart’s Requiem, but was performed by the symphony first. This four-movement composition starts out slow, speeds up, slows drastically, and then speeds up once more. As you can imagine, with only two songs being performed, it is quite long- 29 minutes and 44 seconds to be exact. The Serenade, however, is still dwarfed in length (and complexity) by Mozart’s Requiem, which is over 52 minutes long. The Requiem, which Mozart ironically never finished before his death, involves not only an orchestra, but a chorus and four vocal soloists as well. Joining the Bay Atlantic Symphony for this piece were the “Choral Arts of Southern New Jersey” and “Stockton Oratorio Society,” as well as soprano Natalie Conte, mezzo-soprano Jessica Renfro, tenor Gran Wilson, and bass-baritone Robert Cantrell. Both compositions were performed with great care and precision, and small touches such as providing Latin translations in the program seemed to enhance the audience’s experience.

Personally, after attending this concert, I think of it as a learning experience. I had never been to a classical music concert before, and I likely won’t be attending another anytime soon. Although I appreciate the talent and effort put forth by the performers, and the musical and cultural significance of many of the songs, this concert helped me realize that classical music isn’t really for me. However, I am open to changing my mind; perhaps next year’s performance will do just that.

On October 27 of this year, from approximately 7:30-11:00, an event was held in the campus center in celebration of Halloween. Some freshman or transfers new to Stockton, or college altogether, may have had the idea that Halloween at college was about drinking. Lolla-no-booza was a fun and alcohol free program that showed that Halloween didn’t have to involve poor decisions!

At the event were several games one could play as well as many stands involving fun Halloween activities. I personally was spooked by the scary chair! There were dueling DJs that played their music through wireless headsets that the listener could choose at their leisure. After a while of dancing the dance club graced the crowd with a well-choreographed dance.

For food, there was corndogs, pizza, cupcakes, and refreshments available. Also available was the non-alcoholic bar that served delicious, sugary, drinks that really fit in with the atmosphere. There were no complaints about the lack of alcohol at that bar!

If party-goers were to interact with the stands along the halls and play their educational games, they could win tickets. These tickets that would be put into a lottery machine for the chance to win an array of prizes. I was lucky enough to win a large container of high ply toilet paper. One might not think such a thing is useful until they’ve walked a mile in my shoes!

The entire event was fun and light hearted. Everyone seemed to be having a great time because there was just so much to do! The message was good and carried throughout the night. What a great event for new students to become acquainted with the fun that Stockton can offer.

On October 13th at around 4:30pm, the afternoon of service hosted by “Commuters on the Go”, and situated in the board of trustees room began. Upon arrival the volunteers were met by friendly faces and three possible stations where the service could be performed. The first station was making birthday cards for homeless children, so that their parents need not spend money on them. The second station was making heart shaped baskets for nursing homes. Inside these heart shaped baskets would be mother’s day notes to remind the mother’s at said nursing homes that they are not forgotten and still very much loved. The third and final station was making stuffed bears for children with cancer.

Everyone involved worked diligently to create these cards, baskets, and bears for the sick and in need. Even the hosts of the event helped out, when not assisting others or reorganizing. As each station was held at a singular table, there was a bit of an influx in students that came to help. So much so that another table was made to assist the others three in their tasks. For an hour and a half the card makers produced dozens of cards, the basket makers made a ton of baskets, and the bear stuffers crafted a great number of teddys. Everyone involved worked very hard to help those in need.

Afterword was a reflection. During this reflection the people involved where to write down three of the most important things to them. Then one was, without warning, taken away. This shows just what kind of situation these people in need are in. It seemed to hit home for a lot of individuals, and elicited a very appropriate response. All in all, this event was both engaging and beneficial, to those that came out to help and to those that received such help.  

Akhil Reed Amar, esteemed Sterling Professor of law and political science graced Stockton University with his lecture Wednesday, September 21st. All thanks to the Political Engagement Project, the American Democracy Project, the Office of Service-Learning, and the Office of the Provost, that is for sponsoring this extensive lecture. That Wednesday coincided with Constitution Day, which happens to be one of the subjects covered with expertise in his lecture. In said lecture, he emphasized many points including the importance of the American constitution and it’s originality, as well as many other points such as the significance of the constitution to other countries, on our country, and how it is a perfect imperfect system that is subject to change and yet still holds so much rightfully placed authority.

Through this lecture he more than adequately suggested to the crowd his genuine enthusiasm, and this energy helped carry the audience with him on this journey through Constitutional history, education, law, and application. From the moment he began his presentation he held a very happy yet on point demeanor and as he paced the hall filled with people he only spoke more and more passionately about the constitution.

For students like myself that would usually find a subject such as the constitution boring, Professor Amar is a Godsend because of his ability to hold attention and convey messages to any audience. I found his lecture deeply provoking and understandable, needless to say I would recommend to anyone getting into Political Science or Law or just anyone who has time to listen to a Yale Professor speak about something he is passionate about.