On Saturday, November 19th at 9am I attended the Reindeer Run. It was hosted by the honors program here at Stockton and we hope to make it an annual event. The Reindeer Run was a 5k run around campus to raise money for a local family’s christmas. It started at the TRLC where refreshments were available to the runners and antlers could be purchased. The event was able to raise over two hundred dollars for the family, making it a success for its first year, and the reindeer theme was a perfect way to get people into the cheery holiday season.

There were numerous volunteers at hand at the event, including myself, that were that for encouragement for the runners along the path. There were signs everywhere making sure the runners knew what way they had to go and the volunteers along the path had artsy themed signs to hold up when the runners passed by. I enjoyed cheering the runners on and helping them push themselves. I personally am not a runner at all, so being able to volunteer at the event instead helped me find a way to get involved.

Although the run was fun to be involved with and raised over two hundred dollars, there were not a whole lot of actual runners. Since it was the first year this event had been held at Stockton it was understandable, but in the future I hope there are many more participants. It was a fun event to be apart of, there was lots of energy for a saturday morning on a college campus, and I think as it becomes more well known over the years as an annual event on campus it will become more popular. Raising funds for the less fortunate while being able to push yourself to your limit physically is all done in such high spirits that it is hard for me to imagine any of the runners this year not returning next year.

Tuesday, November 8, 2016. Election Day. 7 PM. Seated in the Board of Trustee’s Room of Stockton University’s campus center, I am prepared for a long night ahead. I am one of many students here for the election results party. A livestream of CNN’s election coverage plays on a large projection screen. The size of the screen only emphasizes the magnitude of this election. For many of my peers, today marks our first time voting in a presidential election. The results that will roll in tonight have our influence attached to them. For the first time, we are not silent observers but rather active participants in deciding the next president of the United States.

In the weeks leading up to Election Day, Stockton has provided its students multiple opportunities to stay up-to-date with the election’s status. Every debate has been broadcasted in the Board of Trustee’s Room, the same room in which the results are being shown tonight. As someone who has attended every debate-watching party, I can conclude that tonight’s attendance trumps that of every other night. Early in the night, the room has the feel of a celebration. There is pizza, there is cake. All of the tables are filled and still more students file in. Regardless of who wins, tonight is the celebration of American democracy.

Analysts have predicted that this election will be called quickly. Earlier today, I had been casually scrolling through news headlines on my computer. One political analyst declared the election could be called as early as 9:05 PM. As the night goes on, the results begin to tell a different story. This election is going to be harder to call than many believed.

As midnight approaches, we remaining spectators are kicked out of the campus center and directed to F111. As a student of the Honors program, I find it all too appropriate to watch the election results in the same classroom in which we hosted a political debate only days earlier.

As 1 AM nears, CNN’s only breaking news is that the states that were too close to call an hour ago are still too close to call. However, shock is in the air. In Pennsylvania, Trump has just surpassed Clinton by a very narrow margin of votes.

At 1 AM, we are asked to leave. As we tiredly shuffle out of the room, we wish each other a good night, a safe trip home. Regardless of which candidate we support, we are all hanging on the results of this election. Now, we must return to our homes and our dorm rooms as the results continue to stream in. Though we all head in different directions, I’m sure we all contemplate the potential outcomes of this election and what they will mean for our America.

The Warrior Champions film was a one-time event held in the Performing Arts Center on September 3rd, 2016. The winner of multiple film festivals, the Warrior Champions was a extremely motivational documentary. Shadowing the lives of a group of wounded American soldiers with disabilities due to combat, the film sends a powerful message of triumphing in the face of possible defeat. There was national pride in everything these veterans did and said on screen. They felt nothing but pride to have represented their country on the battlefield, even at the cost of a limb.

Specifically four members of the group of wounded soldiers were determined to keep on fighting for their country. Due to their injuries, they could not fight on the battlefield anymore, so they took their fight to the olympics. The film follows the hard work these soldiers have to put in in order to achieve their dream of going to compete for the United States in the paralympics. The fight these soldiers put up to be able to do the most simple things like get dressed in the morning is remarkable. It was very eye opening for the audience to see things they take for granted every day to be such a difficult feat for the veterans.

Former soldier Melissa Stockwell lost one of her legs in combat, and as a result decided to take up the sport of swimming. Melissa put so much heart and soul into swimming that she decided she wanted to train to swim at the paralympics in Beijing in 2008.  Having only one leg to kick with was a huge disadvantage for her to overcome. However, Melissa did not settle with mediocre times, and sought to be the best she could be.  Being a swimmer myself, her particular story was fascinating to me.

    Warrior Champions was a moving film that, when viewed, had the ability to touch everyone in the room in some way. A documentary about never giving up, it had the power to possibly change the lives of the viewers. It was impossible to walk away from that Stockton event without having been touched in some way.

On September 19, 2016, Dr. Gregory H. Stanton gave a lecture entitled “The Ten Stages of Genocide”. While I was not familiar with Dr. Stanton’s work previous to the lecture, I quickly learned that he holds a significant presence in the field of Holocaust and genocide studies. This area of study is relatively new, having only emerged in the 1990’s. Dr. Stanton is at the forefront of this field. He is the current president of Genocide Watch, an organization that seeks to create an international movement to prevent and stop genocide.

The ten stages of genocide, as observed by Dr. Stanton, are as follows:

1)    Classification: identification of a specific population

2)    Symbolization: identification of races and/or religions with a symbol

3)    Discrimination: laws that separate one population from the general public

4)    Dehumanization: the use of hate propaganda to deny the humanity of a population

5)    Organization: the gathering and training of militias or other forces

6)    Polarization: the labeling of moderates as extremists and efforts to arrest, imprison, or kill them

7)    Preparation: formal plans

8)    Persecution: isolation of the victims by means of force

9)    Extermination: governmental cooperation with the planners of the genocide, allowing them to carry out genocidal massacres

10) Denial: minimization of the destruction by the perpetrators

Dr. Stanton indicated that a significant population mistakenly believes genocide no longer affects the world. While many assume genocide ended with the Holocaust, other episodes of genocide have since occurred. Lack of public awareness, however, is not the only reason it continues. A lack of authoritative international forces and political will to step in and stop genocide also perpetuate its existence.

 Currently, Dr. Stanton is working on a high school textbook to guide the development of genocide curricula. A major theme of Dr. Stanton’s presentation was that one of the greatest allies in the fight against genocide is education. Concurrent to Dr. Stanton’s presentation, our own Stockton University offers a spectrum of Holocaust and genocide resources. In doing so Stockton helps us to become global citizens. As global citizens, we have a responsibility to not only stop genocide, but to also remain vigilant as the threat of genocide is never truly extinguished.

On October 5, 2016 at 8:00pm I attended the Suicide Prevention Week dialogue. This event was sponsored by the active minds mental health club here on campus. The dialogue was a one time event this year at Stockton that featured a special speaker, Pablo Campos, that gave his own personal story of how he tried to commit suicide.

He started his story with background information on his family. His parents came to America from Guatemala in order to give their children better lives. As the youngest child, Pablo’s mother always joked that he was raised by his older sister and they two peas in a pod. However, Pablo said he remembers his childhood very differently. He explained that he remembers always being alone, playing with toys quietly in the corner. Pablo’s older siblings were bright, intelligent people with promising futures and talents. Teachers would always come up to him and compliment his brothers’ accomplishments, saying Pablo was soon bound to be an engineer at Penn State too. However, all comments like these did was burden Pablo with the weight of everyone’s expectations. The aloneness he felt from as young as he can remember, stuck with Pablo throughout his entire childhood, adolescent, and teenage years. He estimated that his depression formally started around seventh grade. Not long after, to combat this feeling, he turned to drugs and alcohol. The only good, positive thing in his life had been soccer, but by freshman year, he quit.

On a complete downward spiral, Pablo finally decided one day he could not take it anymore, and took some pills and went for a drive. He did not want to be alone anymore, he did not want to be a substance abuser anymore, he just wanted it all the stop. Pablo ended up getting spotted by a police officer for his reckless driving and speeding, but continued to drive for a while with the lights on behind him anyway. Finally, exhausted, Pablo decided to pull over, crashing his car into the guardrail. When the cop pulled his gun, Pablo yelled at the officer, “Shoot me please, just end it, please shoot me.” Thus this began years of going in and out of therapy, rehab centers, and advising.

Sitting in that audience and hearing this story from such an attractive, well-dressed, professional looking young man was shocking to me. The man in the story he told did not match up with the person I was looking at, and that’s when it hit me. I really cannot see mental illnesses. Any person, no matter their outwards appearance, can have inner demons no one knows about. Pablo said he never confided in anyone the depression he went through for years, everyday putting on an act of being like any other kid. Pablo’s complete turnaround of his life was so inspiring and gave me such hope that anyone I knew who was struggling would have a better life one day. I absolutely loved this dialogue and it really showed that you never know what is going on in someone’s life.

On October 25^th, I visited the Funny Farm Rescue in Mays Landing with Stockton’s Animal Friendly Organization. The farm did live up to its name because the first thing I saw as we drove in, was huge flocks of birds in the middle of the road. Most of the animals were not gated, as far as I could tell from looking at the farm from my backseat window. I saw two dogs running and fetching bones and a young calf taking a nap on the side of a barn. I thought: What did I get myself into? I was awestruck by the setup of the farm- I have never experienced anything like this. Once we parked or tried to park, despite the birds pecking at the gravel in the parking area, we walked onto what seemed like a chaos. However, as we got to touch all of the animals and get a feel for the environment, we soon realized that it was only an organized mess. For example, while the birds do walk around the entire farm, they walk in an organized flock fashion. This same concept could be extended to the rest of the animals in the farm including the horses, cats, dogs, pigs, and cows.

This farm is not open to the public very often so I was fortunate enough to see all the rescued animals, feed them, and learn about their stories. My friends and I asked one of the workers for a tour around the farm. The worker told us the names and rescue stories of every animal on the farm (there had to have been over 50 rescue animals at the time). One story that really stood out to me was about one of their adopted rescue dogs. Veterinarians predicted this dog to live for only a few months because of a rare condition in his esophagus that makes him throw up all of his food. After hours of research, the owners were able to sustain his life by training him to eat blended dog food in a crate sitting upright. Looking at the dog eat and play during my visit was truly inspiring. It made me feel good knowing that I was baking and fundraising for a worthy cause that honestly cares about disadvantaged animals. I look forward to returning to Funny Farm Rescue again in the near future!

On November 19, 2016, the Stockton Honors Program sponsored the first annual Run, Run Rudolph 5k race. Kate Volpe, service director of the Honors Program, spearheaded the event and encouraged Stockton students to become involved, whether it be running in the race or volunteering to work behind the scenes. Students of all levels came out to fundraise for the worthy cause and get into the Christmas spirit; all proceeds from the event were going to be used to purchase Christmas gifts for families in need around the local community. Following the race, there was a session for all the volunteers to discuss the positive and negative aspects of the day as well as provide input on how the event could be run more smoothly in the future.

My friends and I volunteered to help with Run, Run Rudolph, including set up at seven o’clock in the morning. Although I slept through my alarm, I was able to make it to the event prior to registration to set up the remaining water stations and make posters of encouragement that would be seen throughout the course. At eight o’clock, registration began. I was assigned to hold up a sign that directed runners to the appropriate room inside the TRLC. Standing outside of the campus center in frigid temperatures was not my ideal Saturday morning, but it was rewarding to know that I was a part of such an exciting fundraising event for a worthy cause. Finally, the racers were all checked in, and the volunteers were distributed across the course around Lake Fred. Before I went back outside, I had to stop at Dunkin Donuts for a hot chocolate and a donut for an extra boost of energy to cheer on the runners as they ran by.

After everyone completed the race, runners enjoyed water and fresh fruit while listening to popular Christmas music and socializing with friends. Kate held a closing ceremony where she congratulated all the runners and thanked everyone for their help and participation throughout the day. As runners started to leave, volunteers began cleaning up for the reflection session. Everyone who took part in the session was given an index card to record the best and worst parts of the day and how improvements could be made for the next few years. Overall, people were very analytical, and it was awesome to see the commitment to making the event the best it can be. The first annual Run, Run Rudolph 5k race was a success, and I look forward to volunteering at it for years to come!

Alyssa Royce

Professor Michael Rodriguez

GEN 1033: The Life of the Mind

11 November 2016

Blog Post Number Two: Knock Out Opiates

Knock Out Opiates was an event hosted by R.I.S.E. A.B.O.V.E, a student-run organization here at Stockton that promotes healthy decision making among students. This event was both a dialogue session and a voluntary opportunity for students, specifically, because we discussed opiate use in our community while also taking action. To date, heroin accounts for ninety percent of opiate use in the United States. In terms of Stockton University and its surrounding cities and communities, heroin use is at an all time high with hundreds of arrests and overdoses each year. In addition to heroin usage, prescription drug use is also a prevalent issue within this community and within the United States as a whole. Of course, there are several ways to become addicted to prescription drugs; but, a large number of cases derive from injury or illness for which prescription drugs are issued. I, along with other R.I.S.E. A.B.O.V.E students, went to the neighboring apartment complex, where many Stockton students reside, and hung flyers that draw attention to the issue of prescription drug use and urged these individuals to talk to their doctors about the dangers of these drugs before deciding to take them. One flyer, for instance, reads “Would you give your child heroin for a broken arm?” The point here is to indicate that prescription drugs are just as addictive and just as dangerous as heroin or other opiates that we may know and may view in a negative light. I know for me, personally, when I had my four wisdom teeth removed my surgeon recommended oxycontin; yet, I made the decision to take controlled amounts of ibuprofen instead because I have educated myself about the dangers of prescription drugs, which I encourage others to do as well. I am hopeful that my volunteerism has made an impact within the Stockton community and has allowed for a more open conversation about prescription drug use.

Alyssa Royce

Professor Michael Rodriguez

The Life of The Mind

30 September 2016

Blog Event #1: Constitution Day

Constitution Day, held on September 21st, featured keynote speaker Akhil Reed Amar, Professor of Law at Yale Law. The following is an abstract and reaction of Amar’s address:

Foremost, I want to acknowledge the fact that I consider myself to be both politically active and politically aware; I closely follow the ongoing election, I am a frequent and active viewer of Fox News, I work at a polling institute where I collect data regarding local politics in my region, and I have even lobbied and held congressional briefings on Capitol Hill. I acknowledge this fact not to help lengthen my paper, but to demonstrate my political activism and to segway into where I lie on the political spectrum. If you happen to have attended the keynote address, you will have undoubtedly recognized the leftist nature of this dialogue. Though I will not explicitly state my political affiliation, I am sure it will be made evident that my views lie on the opposite end of the spectrum and that my opinions directly contradict that of Amar’s.

To begin, I would like to discuss Amar’s comparison of Barack Obama to Abraham Lincoln as this was the one claim that stood out to me the most. Simply put, President Obama is one of the worst presidents this nation has ever seen: a bold statement, perhaps, but not a false one. In terms of the United States economy,  Obama has worsened our economic condition immensely. Following previous recessions in US history, the economy has consistently strengthened and compensated for its losses, including but not limited to following the Great Depression. After what is now known as the “the Great Recession,”  America has not by any means regained our economic standing pre 2008. Rather, Obama has nearly doubled our national debt and has led to the perpetual increase of Americans living in poverty and depending on government programs for financial assistance. President Abraham Lincoln did not by any means destroy the US economy the way Obama has; Lincoln, in fact, strengthened it, for instance, through the passage of the Pacific Railway Act which supported a transcontinental railroad, a tremendous asset to the US economy.

I, of course, must also discuss the discrepancy between racial tensions in modern day and in the 1860s and how poorly Obama has handled our current condition, specifically in comparison to Lincoln. There is no denying that race is a heated topic today, specifically with the prominence and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. To avoid hurting feelings, I will try my best to put this lightly: Americans are not being killed due to limited gun control nor are they being killed because law enforcement is a racist and trigger happy institution. Although I will not digress and discuss why I disagree with the existence of systematic racism and why I am a firm supporter of the Blue Lives Matter movement, I will say that a major contributor to racial tensions in the United States is crime. More specifically, crime is a huge issue in this country and is a major contributor to death, especially among the African American community. By way of explanation, in 2013, out of the 660,000 crimes committed, African Americans were the perpetrators 85% of the time, despite accounting for roughly 13% of the population. I must pose the question: what has President Obama done to combat this? Obama adamantly opposes the War on Drugs despite the fact that drug use and distribution is a major contributor to crime and that even his home city, Chicago, is notoriously the murder capital of the nation. Obama has made little to no effort to support African Americans and to relieve them of crime and its consequences. Comparatively, it goes without saying that Lincoln made great efforts to support and even free African Americans. Lincoln is, of course, known as the Great Emancipator, after he signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. Hopefully it goes without saying at this point, but Obama is by no means comparable to Abraham Lincoln.

Moreover, I find it appalling and, in a way, unethical that Stockton would pay someone to essentially endorse a presidential candidate in front of a room filled with naive and fickle college students. On several occasions, Amar commented on Donald Trump’s attitudes, opinions, and beliefs and inexplicably prompted the audience the vote for Hillary Clinton. Presumably at this point my partisanship has become evident and it is clear that I would disagree with his supporting Clinton.

There were many arguments which Akhil Reed Amar made during his address that I strongly disagree with, yet those mentioned above are just a few that greatly peaked my interest. Overall, I was thoroughly angered by this presentation and I undeniably felt misled by its title: Constitution Day. The content of this presentation had very little to do with the Constitution, but moreso illustrated Amar’s personal political affiliation and why we should vote democratic this November, which I can assure you will not be doing nonetheless.