On Friday November 22, the Environmental Discourse on the Ingestion of Bugs Leage (EDIBL) hosted a movie night in the Campus Center Theatre.  They played the 1950’s horror science fiction movie Them!  While attendance was low, everyone had a good time talking with each other and watching the movie.

Them! takes place in a rural town in New Mexico where the first nuclear bomb was tested.  Due to nuclear radiation, ants mutated into nearly 10-feet-long monsters.  There was not enough food for the ants in the wasteland to feed the gigantic ants, and they began to feed off of human flesh.  The Doctors Medford attempt to put an end to the ant menace, but even if they can destroy the ants, there is no telling what the other atomic bombs might have caused as the radiation infected the surrounding wildlife.

The majority of the people that came to see the movie were from EDIBL while one person was from outside the club.  The movie started at 8:30 pm and ran until 10:15 pm.  Everyone spread out in the Campus Center Theater taking advantage of the amount of empty seats.

EDIBL arranged to have snacks for the movie night, but they were unable to have them at the event.  No one seemed to mind as they were watching the movie.  It was the final event of the semester for EDIBL, and that appeared to be what mattered most to everyone.

EDIBL advertised the event over Facebook through their page Edibl at Stockton College, titling the event “Them! A B-rate Horror Movie Night.”  The movie brought about both scares and laughs and kept the audience’s attention even if it was considered “B-rate.”

On October 5, the Stockton College hosted their 18^th annual Osprey Ball in the Campus Center Event Room.  Tickets were sold in advance for five dollars and for ten dollars at the door, a relatively low price for four hours of dancing, food, and friendship.

A photo booth was positioned outside of the event room complete with hilarious accessories so friends could pose together and just have a great time.  A photographer milled about the event, taking pictures of various individuals, couples, and groups of friends.  Once inside the room, dancers were greeted with a blast of music and a foggy dance floor lit up by lasers.

The Campus Center was redesigned to look like a Monopoly board come to life.  Giant cardboard cutouts of spaces from the board as well as large dice were scattered around the room.  (One die even made it into the air part way into the ball as dancers tossed it around the dance floor as though it were a volleyball.)  There was also an arch against one wall that depicted all of the streets a person could buy on the Monopoly board where people could take pictures either by themselves or with friends.

The music stayed within the pop genre, ranging from Miley Cyrus’s “We Can’t Stop” to Ylvis’s “What Does the Fox Say?”.  The dance floor was jammed packed with dancers and friends hanging out and just having fun.  It was rather noteworthy that when a line dancing song came on, the hodgepodge of people managed to quickly move into a grid-like formation to move along as one and do dances like “The Wobble” and “Cha cha Slide.”

All in all, it was an exciting and enjoyable evening that, despite not always given the highest regards by students, was worth the money to just have some good, clean fun.

On September 26, the freshman of Stockton piled into the Performing Arts Center to hear Mary Roach speak about the freshman common reading, Spook.  Some students came because their seminar required it, others wanted the ULTRA credit, and still others just wanted to be at the event.  Nearly every seat both in the auditorium and orchestra pit were filled with students waiting for the event to begin.

The event started a little after 4:30 with opening remarks from President Herman Saatkamp, Professor G.T. Lenard, and Student Senate President Maribeth Capelli.  Then, it was time for Mary Roach herself to take the stage.

Mary Roach spoke much in the same way that she wrote.  She always had one idea in mind, but she always went off on tangents that in some way related to the main topic she was speaking about.  She spoke mainly about the importance of being curious.  Aside from Spook, she mentioned her books Stiff and Bonk.  At times, she even got a roar of laughter from the audience.

During the question and answer session, Mary Roach kept the ball rolling with quick answers and jests at the audience.  No question was too bizarre for her to answer.  She spoke of everything from her strangest instance with sexual research to her own experience with ghosts.  Her ghost story was a bit of a let down to the audience.  People were expecting a bit more of a gripping story instead of hearing about finding a candy heart on the table, but not everyone can have a gripping ghost story.  Everyone has their own personal experience, exciting or not.

Some people had to leave early due to conflicts in their schedule, but others were able to stay the entire time.  All in all, it was an enjoyable event.

Stockton held Wellness Day on March 4, 2014 in the Campus Center Main Event Room.  Various clubs and companies were in attendance, displaying a variety of health and safety initiatives as well as some natural treatments for hair and skin.  The Music Union provided the music.

One of the clubs in attendance was the Stockton Neighborhood Watch.  The Neighborhood Watch sought to receive signatures on their annual Spring Break Safety Pledge.  They wanted to beat the previous year’s record of 1,088 pledges.  While Wellness Day was not the only day they would be collecting pledges, they wanted to get off to a good start.  With the heavy flow of student traffic, they hoped to get a majority of students to stop by the table to sign the pledge.

The pledge stated that students would not drink and drive.  Neighborhood Watch wanted to make sure that if people did decide to drink that they would make smart decisions and participate in safe and smart behaviors.

Students were not the only ones to sign the pledges.  Professors, visitors, and other tabling companies signed the pledge.  Even if they didn’t necessarily have a Spring Break, they were still encouraged to sign to show their support for the students who were going to be on Spring Break and that they themselves would practice safe drinking habits.

The pledges that were signed were taped onto an inflatable palm tree.  By the end of the day, the tree was plastered with multiple colors of coconut-shaped pledges.  At the end of the day, all of the pledges were taken down and counted.

Another group in attendance was Atlantic County Prevention Resources.  This organization is a big part of the groups STAND and REBEL held in middle school and high school.  They were giving out information on a variety of topics relating to health and drugs.

On February 27^th, Stockton Christian Fellowship set up a table for Shine a Light on Slavery Day.  It was a part of the End It Movement campaign to end modern slavery.  They displayed a poster showing information about the movement as well as the cause and how to become a part of the campaign.

The movement was not only about saying that one is against modern slavery.  Anyone can post about it without really doing anything about it.  End It Movement is about going out into the community and volunteering time to educate people and notice the signs of modern slavery that could possibly help save a life.

As part of Stockton Christian Fellowship’s movement, the students placed markers, drop cards, and post-it notes.  Students were encouraged to draw a red x on their hands and tell everyone about what the End It Movement is all about.  Once students marked their hands, they were asked to write a brief message about the End It Movement and then sign their name.  The post-its were then placed onto the mirror in the shape of an X so people both inside and outside could see the X.

Students were given drop cards with information about the movement and its website so they could learn more on their own.  Another group was tabling next to Stockton Christian Fellowship collecting funds to help people who fell victim to human trafficking.

The turn-out was not as large as the club anticipated, but there is no telling how many people received the message either through friends or Facebook.  By spreading the information, it is the club’s hope that more organizations will do things in the future to help spread the word and Shine a Light on Slavery.

On April 11, 2014, Stockton hosted Woodstockton featuring the Goo Goo Dolls.  The event was held in Big Blue with standing room as well as bleachers for sitting.  Before the Goo Goo Dolls performed, two groups opened for them.

The first opening act was performed by The Blithedale Romance.  They were the winners of Stockton’s Battle of the Bands and were given the honor of opening for the Goo Goo Dolls.  When they first came onto the stage, the lead singer’s guitar was not properly hooked up to the amplifier.  They played a series of rock songs that were very hard to understand.

Following The Blithedale Romance, Run River North came onstage, playing music from a completely opposite genre reminiscent of something that would have been played at Woodstock.  They came all the way from California to perform at Woodstockton in front of their first large live audience.  The audience did not pay much attention to their music, claiming that a lot of songs just blended together and sounded the same.

The Goo Goo Dolls did not take the stage until roughly 9:30 PM.  They were very interactive with their audience.  When the lead singer said that he wrote a song for his girlfriend, one girl was raised up onto her friend’s shoulders.  He began to jokingly speak to her as though she was his girlfriend, asking her where she had been for so long.

The audience had a great time, laughing, clapping, and singing along throughout the Goo Goo Dolls performance.  When the set was over and the band left the stage, the audience began to chant “one more song.”  Some people gave up on waiting and left.  A few minutes later, the band finally came back out onto the stage and sang more songs, whipping the crowd into an uproar.

The Goo Goo Dolls performed excellently and were very good in front of an audience.  They were a great choice for a band.

The Richard Sockton College of New Jersey School of Arts and Humanities Theatre Program performed Frogs Reimagined Wednesday, April 9 through Saturday, April 12 at 7:30 PM and Sunday, April 13 at 3:00 PM at the Performing Arts Center.  The book, music, and lyrics were written by brothers Al and Rob Gregg.  It was directed by Ken Kaissar.

The play was written based upon Aristophanes’ The Frogs.  The Frogs (also known as Lysistrata), was about how women could rise up and take control whereas Frogs Reimagined looks to poets and how one might rise up to save the world.

The music was played by the Stockton Faculty Band:  Peter Hagen, David Pinto, Warren Ogden, Rodger Jackson, and Michael McGarvey.  They were nicknamed “The Croakers” to follow along with the frog theme.  They performed on the stage and at one point were even included in the plot.  Their stage became an integral part of the play in the final act.

The play followed the story of Bonoff, lead singer of “U Also,” and his roadie, Xanthias.  Bonoff is trying to a write a song that will change the world, but he cannot think of the lyrics.  He decides to head to Nowhere aka Hades to find John Lennon to bring him back to the world of the living where he can write lyrics that will change the world.

Along with John Lennon, the play makes reference to many musical icons:  Elvis, Jim Morrison, Freddie Mercury, Poly Styrene, Marvin Gaye, Amy Winehouse, and Eminem.  Between casting and costumes, the characters greatly resembled the icons they were playing.

The costumes were designed and made by students Emily Albertson and Chelsea Regan.  There was a lot of detail placed into each outfit that really brought the play to life.  Many of the students who worked on the play were deeply saddened at the end of the play, some still chanting the line repeated throughout the play:  Brekekex koax kaox!

On April 17, 2014, Ratio Christi hosted what was dubbed “Debate with an Atheist” at 7:00 PM in G137.  Keith Kendrex, advisor of Ratio Christi, debated against Gregg (who asked the group not to share his full name).  The debate was slotted to last until 8:30 PM.

Ratio Christi is a Christian apologetics club held on campus ever Thursday from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM.  At the meetings, the club discusses how to defend faith through science, history, philosophy, and religion.  The group tries to bring in a volunteer from outside the Stockton community who considers themselves to be well versed in atheism to debate Keith Kendrex in a way that is informative and not derogatory to either side.  Both debaters are encouraged to be kind and courteous to their opponents, conversing using facts without personal attacks.

The debate allows students who have been attending the club to see how to put the tactics they have been learning at the meetings to practical use.  By seeing it in action, students can better understand the arguments presented before them and be better able to either defend or refute the information presented to them.

The debate topic was “Is Christianity True?”  It was set up to follow a set structure of introduction, rebuttal, conclusion, and a Q&A session.  Gregg started the debate and Keith followed.  During Keith’s rebuttal, the fire alarms went off and everyone was forced to go outside.  Once everyone was permitted to go back inside, Keith was allowed to finish his rebuttal.  Students wrote down their questions on notecards and the conclusion portion was cut out completely.

Everyone gathered outside of the library for the weekly Thirsty Thursday Bible Study and then were invited to go to Denny’s at 9:00 PM to continue the debate’s Q&A session.  Students who could not attend the Denny’s session were encouraged to write down their questions along with their e-mail address so they could receive their answers.

On April 17, 2014, the Honors Program hosted the Honors Scholars Day, a day for high school seniors to come to the Stockton College campus and get to experience the events of the day firsthand.  Everyone gathered in the Campus Center in Meeting Room 5 at 9:00 AM to get to meet the incoming freshmen and learn about their choices in majors and careers.

At roughly 10:15, everyone was set free to explore the campus as they pleased with their incoming freshman.  Mentors were encouraged to take their “minions” to at least one class, either in their major or offered through the Honors Program.  The Honors courses this year were “Ways of Knowing” and “Ethics and Contemporary Life.”  Students were also encouraged to stop by the Celebration of Service with their mentees as well as the freshman honors dorms where they would be staying.

Mentors stressed the importance of the Honors Community and how it is, in fact, a community.  Mentees were encouraged to attend the Honors Experience over the summer to get to know incoming freshmen and transfers students as well as students who are already attending Stockton.

With my mentee, I showed her around the entire campus:  where to go for career assistance, where to go if she gets sick, the library, and so on.  One of my upperclassmen friends also took us across the lake on the shuttle to visit an apartment in Housing IV so she could also see what upperclassmen housing looks like.

While my mentee and I did not share a major, I was still able to help her find the information that she needs to succeed in her major.  Hopefully, the incoming freshmen will remain in contact with their mentors in the future if they ever need any more assistance.  The event was very helpful to me when I was an incoming freshman, and I hope that it has been helpful to my mentee as well.

The Aquila Teatre Company presented Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night on Saturday, November 23, 2013 at 7:30 PM in the Performing Arts Center.  There were many people in attendance, and the audience was very receptive of the play.

The Twelfth Night is about a set of fraternal twins that could pass for identical twins except for one fact:  one is a boy and one is a girl.  The play begins with them on a ship when a storm hits.  The twins, Viola and Sebastian, are separated and set into two different directions.  Then, the play follows the story of the girl.

Viola dresses up as a boy and seeks help from Duke Orsino.  Duke Orsino hires her to tell Lady Olivia of his love.  In a turn of events, Lady Olivia falls in love with Viola who is dressed as a boy.  Meanwhile, Viola is in love with Duke Orsino.

The version of the play presented varies slightly from the traditional Shakespeare play.  It did follow the basic plot of The Twelfth Night.  The actors managed to bring the play into a new light, understandable by all in attendance.  At least one gender role was switched:  Toby Belch became Lady Belch, but this had little to no effect on the play’s meaning.  The role was adapted perfectly to fit the casting of this version.

The Aquila Theatre Company works nationally, traveling to more than 60 cities every year to present that year’s plays.  They have also performed in New York City (not on Broadway), and on occasions have traveled outside the United States to perform in London, Holland, Germany, Greece, Scotland, Canada, and Bermuda where they perform at festivals.  One such performance was the performance of Herakles in Syros, Greece.

This play was the first of three Shakespeare plays to be performed at Stockton this year.  The other Shakespeare plays presented are Midsummer Night’s Dream and Hamlet.