In early October, my class took a trip to the Stockton Farm. This trip enabled us to see what it takes to grow and produce food naturally, opposed to just buying it from the store. The trip to the farm coincided with the reading of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. Since the book talked about growing food organically, the trip to the farm provided a firsthand look as to what that could be like.

When we first arrived at the farm, we all gathered in the pole barn to look at what organic pesticides and fertilizers were used on the farm. All of the things that we were shown were good for the growth of the vegetables. Some of the pesticides and fertilizers that were used were even made by the people who work on the farm. There are many different options of organic fertilizers and pesticides that can be used, opposed to ones that can potentially danger the food or even the people eating it. After that, we got to walk around the farm and learn about all of the different things that could be grown or were currently growing. We also got to go into the hoop house to see what was being grown in there. I thought the hoop house was interesting because it could be used in the cold to keep the vegetables growing in a warmer temperature. On the flipside, the sides of the hoop house could be rolled up in the summer to make it cooler inside.

I think that the trip to the farm was very informational. I liked how it went along with the book that we were reading at the time. I never knew that Stockton had a farm until we went to visit. After the visit to the farm, I would not mind going to help volunteer once the weather gets better.  Overall, the trip to the farm was a good one.

Like many colleges, Stockton has a wide variety of clubs, activities, and organizations. One of these clubs is the Gamer’s Club. The Gamer’s Club meets every Wednesday at around 8:00 p.m. and goes on until midnight. Like the name suggests, the main activity of Gamer’s club is games. The kinds of games played are card games, board games, and video games. While some board games are provided, you have to bring your own video games. From time to time, events are held. These events are usually tournaments held with a certain video game. Other times free food (usually pizza) is brought over.

In my time spent in Gamer’s Club, I can say that it is quite enjoyable. I’ve been going to it ever since I’ve heard of it (which was around the beginning of the semester). All the people that I met are quite friendly. I even took part in a tournament (and won a 10 dollar gift card from it), and it was very fun. I highly recommend taking part in Gamer’s Club to anyone who enjoys playing games.

Delta Zeta sorority and Alpha Chi Rho fraternity held their first annual Glow Walk event on September 23, 2014. The Glow Walk was an optional walk or run around the Stockton track field during the evening, to help raise money for their philanthropy. To participate, a minimum of a five-dollar donation was required. After ever lap completed, participants received a glow stick; the more you walked or ran the more glow sticks you collected. The fraternity and sorority that held this event had snacks, music and a very fun atmosphere. Together, the fraternity and sorority raised over $2,000 for the NJ Hearing Aid Project and The American Cancer Society.

Many of my family members have passed away from cancer, so when I heard about the event, I was thrilled to be a part of it. I invited many of my friends from my residential hall to participate along with me, and they were also very excited. While walking around the track and listening to upbeat music, my friends and I shared many laughs and fun memories of the night. Collecting the glow sticks was a fun idea to encourage participants to continue walking. Since the event was held at night, the track was completely lit up with neon colors, making it a fantastic sight to see. My friends and I collected as many glow sticks as we could and made them into bracelets, necklaces, and headbands, which also encouraged us to continue walking. Time flew by as we were having fun and at the end of the event, which lasted several hours, my friends and I collected over fifty glow sticks.

Overall, I had a great time donating my time, money and support to Delta Zeta and Alpha Chi Rho’s philanthropy of the NJ Hearing Aid Project and the American Cancer Society. The event had a fun filled atmosphere and a great turn out. I look forward to attending the event next year and hope to see the sorority and fraternity raise even more money than this year.

On Tuesday, September 23, I, along with a couple of my friends, participated in Stockton’s Glow Walk, which involved running, jogging or walking Stockton’s track, lighted only by glow sticks and motivated by loud music. The proceeds, a $5 donation from each participant, would go to various charities and organizations the few fraternities and sororities running the event found suitable. At first glance, my friends and I were excited to receive a glow stick for each lap, which inspired us to want to run as much as we could and end up lit head to toe. However, after eight laps of continuous running (or, in my case, simply attempting to keep up with my cross-country runner of a friend), we found our lack of distance training to be an issue, so we knew it was time to walk it out.

Overall, although it was not a long event, the glow walk was simply a last-minute opportunity my friends and I decided to take. I had known the event was coming up and was interested in participating. My friend, Jen, asked me if I wanted to go with her, and little did I know that the event was that very night. I am glad I accepted and was able to end up donating to a good cause and having a good time on what would have been a typical Tuesday night of endless studying. Sometimes, unexpected plans are the most memorable plans, being that none of us knew what exactly to expect, and I certainly did not know that I would end up running 2 miles that night!

Meghan Butryn

GEN 1033, Honors: Life of the Mind

Dr. McGovern

1 December 2014

Blog 3

On October 29^th Stockton’s S.E.T club organized an event called Lola-no-bozza. One of the main reasoning behind the event was to encourage students to resist drinking on Halloween night especially because Halloween fell on a Friday night. Halloween is my all-time favorite holiday so I could not resist celebrating two days in a row. I went with all my friends and got all dressed up as a skeleton. When we first arrived we were handed glow sticks and lead to the dance floor. There was an awesome DJ and everyone was dancing. If you weren’t one for dancing there were chairs and tables to hang out with your friends. If you got bored there was a photo booth in the corner of the room and it was free. Everyone would pile in with all there close friends and take pictures of their great costumes. To satisfy ones hunger there was tons of pizza as well as well as many specialty drinks made by different clubs. All of these alcohol free of course but to show you that even with out alcohol they were still extremely tasty!

After lots of dancing and eating you could go around the room and put your tickets in for certain prizes. They ranged from smaller cute ones such as gift cards to Wawa to one night at a hotel. One of my friends was lucky enough to win a one night stay at a hotel close to her house. There were so many prizes so he majority of people attending were able to walk out with something. At some tables there were different pamphlets and fun facts about the statistics on drinking at Stockton. It was an extremely fun and safe event to go to with all your friends. Hopefully they’ll have it again next year if you missed it!

Meghan Butryn

GEN 1033, Honors: Life of the Mind

Dr. McGovern

20 October 2014

Blog 2

As a part of my health science class I attended the Josie King Foundation presentation in the PAC center on September 25^th. The speaker, Sorrel King, started the foundation in early 2009 as a result of a traumatic experience she had with her young daughter and a hospital. When her daughter Josie was only four years old when she fell into her bath and had burns all over her and was admitted into the John Hopkins Hospital which is an extremely renowned hospital. Sadly throughout the course of being there Josie passed away due to a medical error. It all happened the day that doctors told the family the young girl would be able to return home. Of course this kind of even would be heartbreaking to any family and it was very hard for the Kings. Sorrel started doing a little research and saw that medical errors are the cause of many deaths each year and this began to fuel her to do what she does today.

After her daughter’s death they took the money from a law suit and put it towards a foundation that would work towards creating less medical errors in the hospital setting. Over the years they have gotten many hospitals all over to partake in rapid response teams and programs that encourage more communication between the doctor, nurses, and of course the family members as well. As well as the foundation being a success, so has been Sorrel King as a speaker. She travels all over to schools, hospitals, and conventions to share her. It began when she spoke at a John Hopkins event and someone filmed it and still today people purchase and use that DVD. Her speech was quite heartbreaking to here but extremely inspiring to all us young health science majors to work towards less medical errors when we are finally working and out in our job field. For anyone that attended was moved by her presentation and enjoyed her as a speaker.

Alisa Iacovelli

The Josie King Story

I have attended many of the events that have been occurring at Stockton.  A lot of them were fun and interesting to go to; , however, the most memorable event so far was definitely the Josie King story.  I attended this event on October 2nd as a required presentation for my Intro to Health Sciences class.  Josie King’s mother, Sorrel King, came to Stockton to speak to the health science students about her story.  I had no idea how moving this presentation was going to be.

Sorrel King is a mother who has experienced something that no mother should ever have to go through.  Her daughter, Josie, was 18 months old when she suffered first and second degree burns from climbing into a hot bath.  Josie was admitted into Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins hospitals, one of the top hospitals in the country.  While Josie was in the hospital, Sorrel and her husband Tony were constantly by her side.  The parents became friends with the nurses and doctors.  The people taking care of fall the children were amazing and always at their best.  Josie was recovering rather quickly, so her doctors decided to move her down from the PICU to the Step Down Unit.  Sorrel was told that this meant they will be going home soon.  She was nervous about moving but was told that no one has ever been sent back up from the Step Down Unit to the PICU.

Once Josie was moved and settled in, her mother noticed that Josie was getting really thirsty.  The nurse suggested that the mother feed her ice chips.  After feeding her, the doctor said Josie looked great and can go home in two days.  Josie’s central line was taken out.  While Josie was taking a bath, she was sucking on a washcloth, and when she was put to bed, she looked skinny, tired, and lethargic.  Sorrel wanted to call a doctor but the nurse said that Josie’s vitals were fine.  A second nurse was called in to check on the baby, and she also said Josie was fine.  Sorrel went home for the night but called twice throughout the night making sure she was okay.  When she got back in the morning, she firmly requested that the nurses came to look at Josie right away but she was told to wait until after rounds.  Sorrel mentioned how she always wanted to be the mom that was easygoing and helpful.  She didn’t want to be annoying but that day she knew that she had a duty and she forced the nurses to come help.  The nurses gave her gatorade to quench Josie’s thirst, and two shots of Narcam.  The doctor said that Josie looked much better and could skip her 1 o’clock shot of Methadone.  When 1 o’clock rolled around, the nurse came over with the shot and was about to give it to Josie.  Sorrel told the nurse that the doctor said Josie did not need the 1 o’clock dose.  The nurse insisted that the orders have been changed.  Sorrel knew that something was wrong as she watched the nurse give the shot to Josie, but she kept quiet, keeping her faith in the fact that she was at one of the best hospitals in the country.

After Josie’s nap, she would not wake up.  Doctors and nurses came running in and made Sorrel leave the room and watch all of the chaos from the window.  They moved Sorrel from room to room, not giving her any information.  Eventually, they sat her down in an office, and told her that her precious 18 month old daughter Josie was going to die.  Sorrel insisted that was impossible, that a miracle would occur, that she would do all in her power to help the nurses and doctors and that Josie will go home to her family as planned.  The doctors told her that a team of neurologists were on the case and they confirmed that Josie was brain dead and her organs were starting to shut down.  It would only be a matter of days.

Sorrel went into Josie’s room to spend time with her.  She had a bunch of tubes in her body to the point where she looked like a robot.  Looking at Josie, Sorrel was thinking about how her other children and her husband were home blowing up balloons, preparing for Josie’s return home.  Within 24 hours, the King family went from planning a welcome home celebration to planning a funeral.

Sorrel kKing was furious at the hospital.  She was regretful because she witnessed this happening and could have prevented it.  The whole event was simply a miscommunication error.  So many thoughts went through her head.  What if the nurses who had been concerned and worried about Josie had actually gone up the chain of command and tried harder to be heard?  What if the doctors tried harder to listen?  What if someone took their eyes off the computer and look at the patient in the bed?  What if someone took the time to listen to the mother?  If even one of these happened, Sorrel believed that Josie would be alive today.

Over 75% of all sentinel events are due to a breakdown in communication.  Why is it so hard for people in the healthcare industry to communicate?  It is our generation’s job to change the culture for everyone else because we are the upcoming health care workers.

The head of the hospital went to the King’s house to apologize to Josie’s parents.  He said that he would get to the bottom of this and fix the problem.  They thanked him but told him he would be hearing from their lawyers.  Mr. and Mrs. King wanted to take Hopkins down and destroy them.  The hospital offered the parents money, but they thought that it was despicable for them to offer money for a dead child, let alone for  to accept it.  If her parents accepted the money then they would be accepting what the hospital has done, allowing them to get away with what has occurred.

Even though Sorrel thought it was awful to take the money, she decided to take the money and do something important for Josie.  They thought about giving the money to the Ronald McDonald foundation and other children’s cancer organizations.

The head of the hospital wanted Sorrel to talk to everyone at the hospital about the tragedy because 98,000 people die every year due to medical errors but no one really knows about it because it is not talked about.  This is the 4th leading cause of death in the country.  The head of the hospital thought that by using a real life story, she would be able to get into the hearts and minds of healthcare workers.  Sorrel began getting requests for her videos and presentations everywhere.  She asked for donations for each video or presentation.  This was the start of the Josie King foundation.

I found this event extremely useful.  Having Sorrel King come to speak to a bunch of students looking to become healthcare professionals was perfect.  It reached the right audience.  This presentation has definitely opened my eyes and when I am out working in the healthcare field, I will be aware and keep this story in the back of my brain so I can avoid anything similar from happening.  The Josie King story was my favorite event so far at Stockton and I am so grateful that I got the opportunity to attend.

Alisa Iacovelli

Professor Heather McGovern

Life of the Mind

21 November 2013

Event Blog #3 – Crumble

For my third event, I decided to attend the Stockton Theatre Club’s production of Crumble on Thursday night, November 13.  This production was created with a cast consisting of only five people, one of which who portrayed multiple characters.  The play begins with a character who depicts the spirit of the house.  This character has little monologues throughout the play that explains the history of the house and what it has become over the years.  Gary, the father of the family who lives in this house, unfortunately passed away from a tragic accident.  The rest of the plot revolves around a mother and daughter who are trying to cope with the catastrophic loss of their beloved family member.  The daughter, Janice, is an out of sorts eleven year old who is trying to find a way to be with her father again.  Her mother, Clara, suffers from severe anxiety.  Clara has had little to no relationship with her daughter since the passing of Gary, which makes her question her parenting skills.  Clara’s sister, Barbara, attempts to help with the parenting of Janice, and tries to get her to open up.  Barbara has always wanted to have a child, however was unable to.  To fulfill her want for children, she adopted many cats and tries to build a relationship with Janice.

Janice is almost always in her room, because she wants little to do with her mother, or really anyone for that matter.  She is visited by an imaginary Justin Timberlake.  Timberlake is supposed to depict the father figure that Janice no longer has.  Janice pursues a romantic relationship with this figurative character.  The same character that plays Justin Timberlake also plays the imaginative Indiana Jones, who is the guiding role for Clara.

Towards the end of the play, Janice gives her mother a Christmas present.  The present it a bomb that she made to kill herself and her mother.  The reason that she wanted to use this bomb is to bring her and her mother back together with her father.  Once the bomb goes off, the only thing that happens is that Janice loses her right hand, which was a symbol of her father throughout the play.  Once she returns from the hospital, Janice builds a better relationship with Clara.  Barbara is also included in this new relationship.  The play concludes with the three of them moving out of the house after fixing it up.

A main theme throughout this play is gender roles.  The father figure is usually seen as someone who controls the household and regulates what goes on.  Once this family lost their father figure, they spiraled out of control.  Another gender role is the mother who tries to gain her daughter’s affection through food.  Mothers are known for cooking and completing household tasks, and Clara does much of this, fulfilling this stereotype.

Overall, I enjoyed the production of Crumble.  I thought the acting was professional, as well as the scenery and costuming.  I would definitely recommend a Stockton production again, and will attend them in the future.

On October 3, 2014, the members of the Stockton Public Relations Student Society of America traveled from Galloway, New Jersey, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to participate in an activity that some people will never be able to take part in. Club members were given the opportunity to take a personal tour of Citizens Bank Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team.

Before starting the tour, an expert guide gave each of the members an overview on the history of the Phillies through a short video presentation. Once the clip concluded, the PRSSA was off to explore the ins and outs of the stadium. The tour started with a look at the private suites that overlook the field. Then, the guide took everyone into the broadcasting booths along with the press box to show all of the club members exactly what it looks like on the opposite side of the camera. After exploring the media rooms, the tour guide then took the tour group down a special hallway filled with the history of baseball and the Phillies team. Some of the items showcased included a chair from the original home stadium, the molded hand of Roy Halladay, and photographs of famous players spanning from the beginning of the sport until the present day. A visit to the Diamond Club was next on the list, where everyone got to take a peek at the batting cages that the team uses for practice. After the club, a visit to the field was scheduled. The guide allowed all of those on the tour to step onto the field and into the dugouts. Everyone took pictures to savor the moment because many will probably never get the chance to do such a thing again. Finally, the tour ended in the press conference area. After everyone was seated, a speaker came in to answer any questions that the group had about the Phillies, the park, or even the business of it all. Once all questions were answered, each member of the group received a special pin to commemorate the day.

As a big fan of Philadelphia sports teams, I knew that I would adore the activities offered during the tour before the group even left campus. I enjoyed being able to see the entire park without anyone being there because during games, it can get very crowded and overwhelming. Not only was the tour interesting, but the information about the business and how the park and franchise is run was also very helpful. I would love to be able to work for the Phillies or any Philadelphia team one day. It would surely be a fun experience.

On Tuesday, November 18, 2014, Stockton held their annual Scholarship Recognition Dinner.  This dinner brought together faculty, scholarship recipients, donors, and President Saatkamp.  This night was created to recognize students who continually achieve academically and also to thank those donors who made it possible for the students of Stockton to receive scholarships.  The recipients of these scholarships and awards ranged from freshman to graduate students.

Upon entering the Campus Center Event Room, one could see it was going to be a night of extravagance.  It began with speeches from faculty and President Saatkamp.  After the speeches came to an end it was time for dinner.  It was a buffet style dinner with plenty of options from raviolis to stuffed chicken.  While eating dinner, the recognition speeches began.  A leader from each of the eight Schools approached the podium to introduce the recipient of a scholarship from their respective Schools.  These recipients recited speeches that outlined their academic journeys at Stockton and how the school has impacted their learning abilities as well as their abilities to excel in their fields.  During the speeches we were served desserts.  It was by far the best dessert I have had while attending Stockton.

After the speeches ended the dinner came to a close.  Before leaving, all recipients were asked to join together in the lobby for a group picture.  This picture represented the hard-working students that appreciate education and the support of donors who are helping each of us to continue in our education.

Overall, I really enjoyed the event.  However, there were some aspects of the night that I felt could have been handled better.  These aspects include a lack of food for the tables that were called last, assigned seating in no particular order, as well as a lack of seating.  When speaking about a lack of seating I mean that students were turned away from entering the Scholarship Recognition Dinner when RSVPing due to a lack of space.