The Honors Holiday Party was held as the Honors event for the month of December. This was a refreshing break to relax from studying for finals. It was fun to get in the holiday spirit with close friends and other Honors students. There were drinks, food, and desserts provided by Chartwells which was a nice touch as well.

It was optional to bring a gift, but to participate in the gift exchange game people brought gifts under five dollars. The game works where each person picks a wrapped gift from a pile and opens it. After each person opens a present they are given two choices of either keeping the present that they opened or “stealing” a more appealing gift from another person.

The presents that people unwrapped kept the game interesting. For example, there was a disco ball, box of pennies, and donut maker that was constantly swapped between people. Although I did not participate in the gift exchange game, I still had a good time watching other people swap presents. Overall, the game was very entertaining and everyone was satisfied with their present at the end for the most part. I am very glad that the Honors program organizes events like these every month. They are a great way to take a break from studying and enjoy time with friends while getting to know other people more.

Alexis Lawless

David Lester’s Suicide Talk

November 20, 2012

On Tuesday, November 13^th, I attended a talk given by Professor David Lester. I obtained extra credit in my Statistical Methods class for being present. Professor Lester is also my Abnormal Psychology teacher. He is famous for his research on suicide. This event was held in Alton Auditorium. Professor Lester is a very interesting guy in class, and I didn’t know much about his research and books, so I thought it would be a good idea to go. It was definitely worth my while.

This was a one-time event and it was held for the sole purpose of David Lester talking about suicide, the signs, how to prevent it, and an explanation of why he has not figured out the reasoning behind it yet. He has examined people’s diaries, both famous and everyday people, and discovered many similarities between the suicidal ones. He used machines to process what people frequently said and felt throughout the diaries. I didn’t know that a machine like this existed before this.

Thankfully, I never lost a family member or friend to suicide. David Lester made it clear that if anyone ever did, then he or she should never blame themselves for not seeing the signs. Weeks before a person even commits suicide, they could be happy-go-lucky day and night. Luckily, Professor Lester was able to get his hands on diaries of his students’ siblings to diagnose, along with famous people’s, to try to get a better understanding about why anyone would want to do this to himself or herself. He does believe that if he were to find an answer, it would simply be an individual case study and could never generalize the whole suicidal population.

Before his speech was over, David Lester gave us the number of a suicidal hotline. I never had to call this number, but I think it was very thoughtful that he gave this out to us. I am personally not suicidal, but if I ever know somebody who is in the future, I will not hesitate to call. I believe this talk was very informative and I’m glad I attended. I learned much about suicide and that it’s not a new problem in the world, and certainly will not be cured in the near future.

As a freshman at Richard Stockton College, I’m new to everything it has to offer. Finding friends is a little tough when you’re the new guy on campus. Upon arrival I knew I wanted to stay active, just like I did in high school. Besides wanting to stay active, I needed to, due to my new college eating habits. Miraculously one day I ran across an old friend whom I played baseball with many years ago. He invited me to play flag football on his team for the fall sports season. I was in!
Our team was called the Dirty Birds. It consisted of four friends from my hometown and five new kids I was introduced to. They all took me in like I’ve known them forever, since I was the only freshman on the team. I didn’t know what to expect when attending our first game. I played football in high school, so I thought this would be a less competitive, just for fun kind of league. Boy was I wrong! This was one of the most competitive experiences I’ve had in my life. Since Stockton doesn’t have an actual football team, I guess all the kids who played football in high school joined this flag football league. Every game was intense. Some almost wound up in fistfights, but someone was always there to calm the situation down.
The referees are also very official. I thought the league wouldn’t have referees and the teams would call the shots. But the men in black and white stripes were on their game. They knew the rules inside and out. One game there was even instant replay footage for a boundary line call. They also have yellow flags just like any football referee, which I had the lucky experience of being struck by one. They are surprisingly heavy.
Our season ended very abruptly. We lost our first playoff game to a team we previously beat. Before this game we were the only undefeated team, out of a league of 30. All in all it was a great season, I met new friends, and I sure am looking forward to next year!

I have always had a fascination with all things morbid. Anyone who would look at my library records might be alarmed because the book that I check out most often is called The Killer Book of Serial Killers by Tom Philbin. No, there is nothing wrong with me psychologically; I am purely interested in the different theories and causations of homicide and suicide, rather than the literal act of it. My interest is no secret to my friends, who brought to my attention a suicide seminar on November 16th. At first, I thought it was going to be a suicide awareness/prevention seminar, but it was actually centered on case studies of people that have committed suicide and who have left behind journals. Of course I was interested; it was a great opportunity to get into the minds of those who felt suicide was their only viable option.

The first case study was an 18 year old girl named Katie. She was the sister of a student at Stockton, and after her death, her journal was given to Professor Lester to analyze. What was interesting was that the last few months before Katie’s suicide, she was more composed and calm, and never mentions the word suicide in her writings. This makes sense because there is a certain peace that comes from making the final decision and Katie’s writings became more positive as the journal came to it’s conclusion. Although seemingly contradictory, many times the word suicide is not used because a person does not want to accept this word, due to it’s negative connotations. She may accept the fact that this is her solution, yet may have trouble writing the actual word down. Most of Katie’s journal entries reflected a very insecure person; someone who is caught up in a vicious cycle of self-deprecation. This becomes a running theme in many of the journal entries of other people as well.
Robert was a professor who felt very paranoid about his work and believed that people were out to get him. He believed himself to be a fraud and that he was essentially an idiot. He also felt impotent when it came to being with his wife. All of these insecurities ultimately led him to his suicide. A similarity between Robert’s journal entries and Katie’s was that they were both adept at listing their downfalls, and where they failed as human beings. Another similarity is that near the end of Robert’s journal entries, he, too, had an emotional shift where he becomes more positive and composed. He has found the solution as well, and that solution was suicide.
The most compelling notion of the seminar did not come during the presentation itself, but afterwards during the question and answer portion. Someone asks the professor if writing in a journal was beneficial or detrimental to these people who have committed suicide. Obviously, the journals provide us with an intimate look into these individual’s minds prior to their final acts, but sometimes these journals can be written with a certain idea that they will sometime, in the future, be seen by other eyes. This may skew the truth and actual intimacy of the journals, if the author is writing it for an audience. Also, especially with Katie, who spent hours and hours cooped up in her bedroom writing horrid things about herself, might have benefited from not having a journal. In the end, we cannot safely say there is a tidy solution to suicide. There are no sufficient conditions for one to commit suicide, although there are many similarities between individuals. The main idea is that suicide, in itself, cannot be understood, but one may be able to understand the individual who commit suicide.

Washington Internship Seminar
I attended a seminar for the Washington Internships that the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey offers. The internships are run through the Washington Center, a well –known internship organization. Stockton has sent the most students out of any college in the country, which lands our students a discount of 2,500 dollars!
The internships are mainly in the summer in the metropolitan area among various organizations. An intern can work for a non-profit organization or a government organization such as the C.I.A. It all depends on the student’s taste. There are also study abroad internships in places such as Paris, France and Sydney, Australia.
Internships are a great idea for a college student. Students get work-experience they would not be able to get inside the classroom. This experience is crucial when applying for a job after college. The organizations students intern for can make an awesome reference for their job resume. Also, college students can find jobs related to their majors and see if they like what they are studying in a real world situation.
To pay for an internship is no different than paying for tuition and housing here at Stockton. It works exactly the same way, which is extremely easy for a student. An internship seems like a super smart idea for a student who wants a step ahead when applying for a job. Seems like I’m going to have to check out which ones I’m interested in!

I saw Dracula on October 27th at seven in the Performing Arts Center. It was performed by the Atlantic City Ballet Theatre, a company I danced with during highschool. Dance has always been some part of my life, ever since I was a little girl; When I was younger, I would come to Stockton around Christmas time to see The Nutcracker and that was always a great memory for me. Dracula was no exception. When I heard about the show I was so excited to see it. I was required to go for my ballet class but I would have gone even if that was not the case. To be completely honest, I did not know the plot of Dracula whatsoever. I have always sort of known what it was about, although watching the ballet was challenging because there was nothing to explain what was going on. During intermission I read the summary in the playbill so I could catch up. Dracula had amazing choreography although very creepy music, lighting, and costumes. Red lights filled the stage and the music was eerie, to say the least. People became possessed at many points in the ballet and how the dances changed due to their feelings was interesting. It was a great experience and I encourage everyone, even if it might not be your thing, to go see a ballet!

-Victoria Starner

Every Thursday night and most Saturday nights, the campus center theater plays new movies before they are released on DVD. There is also an opportunity to win raffle prizes, like gift cards for Wawa or movie posters, at the very end. Why not try to win a Wawa gift card? Stockton students love Wawa. In general, the movie nights are a very fun experience. It has the movie theater feel without the movie theater price. It is completely free for any Stockton student. There are even free snacks and refreshments, but you have to get there a bit early before they run out. The doors open at 8, but the movie does not start until 8:30. During that in between time, old Looney Tunes cartoons play. In that aspect, it is very reminiscent of an old time movie theater. Back in the early days of movie theaters, they played cartoons before movies, so it brings about a slightly nostalgic feeling of simpler times, even though none of us were alive in that time period. Even still, it is a great way to spend time with friends or even your boyfriend and girlfriend. There is nothing wrong with a free date. Since most of us are poor college kids, these movie nights are great because they are free and we do not have to spend an arm and a leg like we do if we go to any other movie theater. I would recommend these movie nights at the campus center to anyone, especially those looking for a fun way to spend their Thursday or Saturday nights without having to spend a penny.

This dinner has occurred for 27 years now, and it brings all of the students, faculty, and staff who attend closer together. This was held on November 17 in the Campus Center Event Room and was sponsored by Student Development.

This dinner included an opening done by none other than Stockton’s all female A Capella group, Stockata. They opened with “Fallin’” by Alicia Keys in their own unique A Capella style. There was also a solo done A Capella by a student from the Gospel Choir. Utilizing both students and faculty to open the dinner made for a very fun and cohesive atmosphere.

Eventually after the singing and several speeches, Bill Daly was honored with an award for being such an amazing teacher to many Stockton students and changing their lives dramatically. After his award, the dinner began, and everyone was free to mingle and speak with the faculty they brought or some they did not.

I personally loved this event. As a member of Stockata, it was great to sing one of our songs for everyone that we had worked so hard on. We even got invited to stay and eat at our own table, all 14 of us! I liked listening to the speeches of the faculty, and even saw some great teachers I plan to have classes with some day. Though none of my professors were available due to prior engagements or because they were already invited by someone else, this event was a good one. People need to realize that it is not just students, faculty, and staff at this college. This dinner was able to show me and many others that this college is made up of the relationships between these groups of people, and that makes all the difference.