Jessica Bolich

On October 13, 2016, Commuters on the Go sponsored the Afternoon of Service. Located in the Board of Trustees room, the service event appeared to be a smaller version of the Day of Service that was hosted towards the beginning of the semester. The Afternoon of Service began at 4:30 and lasted until about 6:00. It consisted of two parts: attendees working at service stations and a reflection session afterwards.

The Afternoon had three service stations; however, because of the turnout, some of the stations were spread across multiple tables. The first station consisted of making heart shaped baskets to give to elders living in nursing homes. The contents of some of the baskets included some small Mother’s day cards that were hand crafted by some of the students who came to the Afternoon of Service. At the second station, students sewed and stuffed teddy bears and heart-shaped pillows from pieces of colorful fabric. These gifts were created for young children afflicted with cancer. Students at the final station drew birthday cards for homeless families who could not afford to purchase cards or gifts for their children. The insides of the cards were left blank so the families could personalize the cards for their children.

The reflection session that followed the service was very powerful. The attendees were given three post-it notes and were instructed to write one thing on each of the notes: a person who was important to them, a thing that was important to them, and a trait that was important to them. After writing these things down, the participants were told to switch their post-it notes with somebody they did not know. They were then told to throw away one of the post-it notes before returning them to their original owners. This exercise was done to demonstrate the kinds of feelings people have when their important things are taken away from them, as with the groups for which the gifts were created. Although this service activity was not a part of a series of events, the participants were still able to help many people in need within a short span of time.

Jessica Bolich

Once again, presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump dueled in a battle of words during the second presidential debate. This time, the debate was a town hall style where undecided voters selected by the Gallup organization asked the candidates questions and other voters submitted questions through social media. Like the previous presidential debate, the moderators requested that the live audience remain silent and not use electronic devices for the duration of the debate, but the audience still required reminding throughout the course of the night.

When the debate began, each candidate was given a time limit of two minutes which both exceeded on occasion. Right from the first question, both candidates wasted no time inserting their campaign slogans into their answers. Not long after the debate had started, the footage of Donald Trump speaking about women in lewd ways, which has come to be referred to as the Trump Tapes, became the subject of the debate, and both of the candidates began to lash out at each other. Trump claimed that his words were just “locker room talk” and Clinton told the audience that she did not believe Trump was fit to serve as president. However, their words were not limited to the Trump Tapes. They also argued about each other going over the time limit and about who was interrupting whom. The debate ended with a question that shocked audiences: the candidates were asked to name one thing that they respected in the other. Clinton responded first by saying that as a mother and grandmother, she respected how Trump held the devotion of his children, and Trump replied that he respected Clinton’s determination.

This debate was broadcast live on October 9, in the Campus Center like the previous debates and sponsored by the Stockton Political Engagement Program. The third and final presidential debate will be viewed on October 19 in the Campus Center Board of Trustees room.

Jessica Bolich

On Monday, September 26, the first of three presidential debates was held at Hofstra University, in New York. This event was broadcast live, and record numbers tuned in to view it, including many students of Stockton University. We gathered in the Board of Trustees room to attend the first debate watching party, which was sponsored by the Stockton Political Engagement Project. The party included refreshments and a debate-themed bingo game.

The format of the debate was one in which the two candidates were asked specific questions by a moderator in front of a live audience. They were given two minutes each to answer the questions and also had the option to comment on each other’s answers. The questions were divided into three categories: Achieving Prosperity, The Direction of America, and Securing America. Both candidates expressed their views on the different topics that were brought up during the debate. These topics ranged from why the candidates thought that they were better suited for the presidency to Secretary Clinton’s emails and Donald Trump’s tax returns.

The debate started a few minutes late and both candidates had times where they continued to speak beyond the two-minute time limit. Audience members also continued to make noise despite instructions to stay quiet. Viewers also noted the not-so-subtle jabs that the candidates made at each other. These included Donald Trump blaming Hillary Clinton for a myriad of things, and Secretary Clinton telling Trump that he lives in his own world. The candidates also took the debate as an opportunity to promote their individual websites, complete with fact checkers.

For students who were unable to attend the debate on the 26^th but are interested in the current election, there are three more debate watching parties in the future that all are welcome to attend.