On October 22^nd, the Pilipino American Students Association of Stockton (P.A.S.A.S.) visited The College of New Jersey for the annual Adobowl with District 5. Filipino club spans the nation and are divided by sections called districts. District 5 is the collection of colleges, universities and vocational institutes within South Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. The name Adobowl is derived from the filipino cuisine called adobo. This event is where filipino clubs participate in games and food with other students.

Although I arrived late to the event, I still came in time for the games. The teams were randomized after signing up (5 dollars per student, 2 dollars per alumni) and were not categorized by the school you were in. I missed a few team-oriented games like popping another teams’ balloon that are tied to their ankle, and egg tapping. Luckily, I made it just in time during the preparation of tug-of-war. Assigned to the black team, we had to coordinate with each other to pull on the rope at the same time. Our superior pulling skills made it the finals, but were ultimately taken down by the blue team in a very extended war. The last game was a board member trivia relay where one member from each team must race from one side of the recreational center and find the picture of the board member who was the answer to the question.

By the end of the day, all the teams experienced a “thanksgiving” dinner together. The food consisted of pizza, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, banana-chocolate cake, and drinks. We ate and exchanged contacts with each other and were able to experience the filipino community that we seek to preserve. The Adobowl was a fun-filled event that I wish for others to experience as well.

On Saturday, October 22nd S.A.V.E. (Stockton Action Volunteers for the Environment) travelled off campus to the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge to volunteer in a litter cleanup event. Although the chilly weather and rain may have deterred some people, S.A.V.E. met in the Campus Center that morning at 7:45a.m. to drive to the refuge. When we arrived, there were little open parking spots showing that a whole community came together despite the fact that it was a rainy and dreary Saturday morning. Each group of people that arrived were given pickers, recycling and garbage bags/buckets, gloves, and a road to clean up and make beautiful again.

Although we were not given that much of an area to clean, (especially compared to other trash clean ups I have done in the past) we found a decent amount of items that belonged in a landfill or a recycling plant, rather than on the side of a road. S.A.V.E. did a very thorough job, cleaning up everything that they saw. Glass bottles, plastic, and paper trash were more of the common litter gathered. Among these common trash items, S.A.V.E. collected more unusual items such as two full paint cans and a tire.

When we finished, we brought everything we found back to the Wildlife Refuge to be disposed of properly. After that, the men and women running the event offered us hot coffee and light refreshments, which was very kind of them to do. They also gave out free sweatshirts for those who participated in the event.

Overall, this event was very rewarding. It is very important for people to take pride in their communities and the planet to keep it clean. Making a difference and volunteering is so worthwhile, and being apart of events like these are what make my day!

The morning of Saturday October 8 had the makings of an unpleasant day—the sky was a bleak shade of gray, and the forecast of rain all day proved to be accurate, with a fair amount of rain falling from the sky. This assumption proved to be wildly inaccurate. That day was the third and biggest day of Stockton’s University Weekend, an annual event which serves as a chance for family and alumni to visit the campus and enjoy a wide variety of fun (and mostly free) activities. What made the 8th special was their large Street Fair, which featured a wide variety of vendors. This event was sponsored simply by the university, as one of the many activities for University Weekend (including a semiformal dance, the Osprey Ball, that evening). My family wasn’t able to attend, but I had the pleasure of going to the Street Fair with my visiting boyfriend. I was shocked by the large amount of vendors they had. However, it was mildly disappointing to see many empty tables that would’ve had Stockton clubs and organizations as their vendors. The inflatables, which we were both looking forward to, were also unable to be used. With the somewhat heavy rain, these were both understandable. The weather was manageable, as long as you had a jacket and umbrella, which we thankfully had. However, there were still many outside vendors. Some of these included various food trucks serving tacos, sandwiches, and potato products, as well as food tables featuring pretzels and cinnamon rolls, clothing and jewelry vendors, and even the Camden Aquarium, which had a mobile aquarium where you could see and touch starfish, stingrays, and even sharks. Inside the Campus Center and Big Blue, there were performances from Stockton’s dance team and acapella groups, respectively, which were both excellent. The university also had tables set up in dry areas, giving away free items as well as selling University Weekend t-shirts. Overall, the event was well organized and put together. All of the vendors were high quality and very friendly, as were the Stockton clubs and organizations that were in attendance. The rain did put a bit of a damper on things, and it would’ve been nice to see more of the clubs that signed up represented at the Street Fair. It is hard to make an event of this sort rain resistant, but some better planning on that end would’ve made it even better. Possibly with more tents, or moving the tables inside of the academic building. The people that were there, though, were very amiable, and it was a great environment to be in. Though the weather was less than ideal, I had a great time shopping, eating, and petting sharks (which I never thought I’d do in front of I Wing). The organization of the event and the people still made the day enjoyable, despite the dreary weather, and I can’t wait to see what they do next year.

The event I attended on Saturday October 8^th was the 21^st Annual Osprey Ball. It is a yearly semi-formal homecoming event held in the Campus Center Event Room that is put on by the Office of Student Development. The tickets were 5 dollars until the end of September, then went up to 10 dollars on October 1^st.

The dance went on from 9pm-1am. There was a photo booth, a DJ, and refreshments available for all the attendees at no additional cost. There seemed to be a good turn-out, and everyone there seemed to be having a good time. There was a dance floor in the center of the room with tables set up around the edges of the room for people to eat and relax, and there was plenty of space for everyone who attended.

The dance was really fun. I was able to bring my boyfriend down and a lot of my friends were at the dance as well. The ticket was well worth 10 dollars thanks to the inclusion of the food and the photo booth. There was a nice variety of food, there was enough for everyone, and it tasted really good. They also had cake and drinks. The photo booth line was long but worth the wait. The pictures turned out nicely and the little props they provided you added a lot of charm.

It was also nice inside the event! I love seeing people dressed up, so I really love semi-formal dances. The DJ was good and the music kept everyone dancing. The people there had good energy and everyone seemed to really be having fun, which made you want to stay and keep dancing. I thought the event was very well put together and I’d happily go again next year.

By Celine Fleenor

On October 11, 2016, I attended a dialogue session entitled “La Chancleta: Discussing Discipline vs. Child Abuse”, which was hosted by the Latin American Student Association and Lambda Tau Omega Sorority, Incorporated. I was a little apprehensive about going since I am not of Latin American descent, and I don’t know much about the culture, but I found the session to be very interesting and informative. To start off, we talked about discipline in different cultures and the expectations that parents have for their children in different countries such as the United States, New Zealand, and China. Different members of the organizations shared their stories about their own discipline growing up and different factors that played a role in how they were disciplined such as gender, age, the presence of siblings, and if it was their mother or father giving the punishment. Then we discussed the fine line between discipline and child abuse, and when the punishment has gone too far.  They also brought in a Stockton alumna from the Lambda Tau Omega Sorority, who works as a social worker, to weigh in on the conversation. She talked about how she deals with cases where families need counseling due to child abuse. Some children even need to be removed from their homes because of abuse situations. She talked a lot about how she can’t bring her work home with her otherwise she gets too attached to the cases and the children involved. Props to her for being brave enough to be a social worker, because I could never. All in all, I thought this dialogue session was very informative and I’m really glad that I took part in it. It was great to discuss such a universal topic and learn about different cultures in the process.

Lily Davis

Blog Post Two

Joining Alpha Phi Omega

Alpha Phi Omega (or ΑΦΩ) is a national co-ed service fraternity organization  which is based on the three principles of Leadership, Friendship and Service.  It was founded on December 16, 1925 at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania by a group of former Boy Scouts who  wanted to continue to perform service and help their community, while also being in a group of people who  have the same ideals as each other. After being a male-only  fraternity  for fifty one years, it became a co-ed fraternity in 1976. This meant that chapters now had to accept women as well as men.  

Currently, Alpha Phi Omega has over 400,000 members on over 375 college campuses in the United States.  There is actually chapters in Canada and Australia as well!  

I first became interested in Alpha Phi Omega actually over the summer, when I met one of my coworkers, who also goes to Stockton University.  She told me all about the fun opportunities that Alpha Phi Omega provided to her and she also told me about  how many new friends she had made in the fraternity.  I’ll admit, it took a little bit for me to adjust to being “in a fraternity” but so far it has been a lot of fun!

During Rush Week, we had to go to some really interesting activities. We had to make capes for children in hospitals, and we also participated in bonding activities, which included things like mocktails and an ice cream party.  After Rush Week, we were initiated into the frat which consisted of some things we were told to keep secret, but included a ceremony in a dark room. So far, in Alpha Phi Omega I have not done much, but I am excited to do more!

On October 12, 2016, the RA’s for D building held a one-time event to bring awareness to the common occurrence of people being labeled, more specifically at Stockton University. The event, which took place in a common room in D building, started with an exercise to demonstrate how easy it is to use stereotypes in groups of people. By putting labels on every person’s back and treating them as their label suggests, the participants could learn how even people who claim to never bully are still capable of using negative stereotypes. More specifically, everyone learned how it can hurt to degrade others to merely a label. The activity was repeated in multiple variations, but the reflection afterwards made the reasons for the activity come together. People should not use labels, or act as catalysts in promoting how others are labeled.

After this event, we did a less interactive activity that required a line on the floor. The RA’s would state certain traits people may have, from whether one considers Stockton their home to whether one has been in a relationship that has hurt them. The participants would step over the line for whichever statements applied to them. This was a good way to silently learn about the people around us. While students all talk and learn with the people around them every day, they rarely understand the deeper and more personal aspects of their lives like these.

To end the event on a more positive note, each person received a little jar, which they could put their name on. Then, everyone was given a few sticky-notes and markers. The RA’s instructed everyone to write down positive notes like what everyone is thankful for or looking forward to. Essentially, the jar was meant to be a ‘positivity jar’. The RA’s strongly urged everyone to continuously add to the jars throughout their experience at Stockton. In addition, we were all urged to not only put positive notes in other peoples’ jars, but into jars of those we aren’t well acquainted with.

The night was fun, and slightly Halloween themed. There was candy, pizza, and a movie afterwards, which made the event a lot more social after all of the memorable and educational aspects of the night. Overall, the event was an excellent balance between informational and entertaining. The labeling and jar activities both promoted social interaction and having fun while still maintaining the original purpose of the event, which is to be aware of the dangers of labeling. While the event did manage to get serious at times, everyone was having a lot of fun and seemed to enjoy the activities. The D building RA’s often go above and beyond in their planning and hands-on coordinating, and this wonderful Wednesday night in October was no different.

In early October my friend Christina and I volunteered to work concessions at Stockton Entertainment Team’s Hypnotic Intoxication event.  The event was a great turnout, over 200 students attended to see a professional hypnotist makes fools out of willing volunteers.

He started off by explaining the science and history of hypnotizing.  He told us when and why he started and explained that he is not only an entertainer but an educator.  The crowd looked at him puzzled but he said at the end of the event he would explain how he was an educator.  Once he taught us the basis of hypnosis he warned the audience that he would be safely manipulating our minds.  He told us that only a few of us would genuinely be effected by the process.  He started off with a simple mind trick to see who was a viable volunteer for the show.  We were told to clear our minds and convince us that our feet were stuck to the floor.  It had honestly worked on me so I went up on stage with other people that were extremely effected by it.  My friend Christina and about 2/3 of the audience sat down because there was no effect on them.  Next he did a much more intense and detailed trick which, because it worked on me, I have no recollection of what it was about.  However, at the end of the trick I regained complete consciousness so I sat went off the stage and back into the crowd.  I was the first of many people to back out, some because it had minor effect and other because the people were freaked out and did not like having their brain tampered with.  The hypnotist played many tricks on the students on stage like making them think they were celebrities, making them pass out on command, and of course, making them think they were drunk.  The last trick was the water bottle intoxication trick.  This involved every given a water bottle filled with whatever alcoholic drink they wanted to imagine.  During this skit the hypnotists took two girls drinks unknowingly and then gave them back a minute later.  Then he woke up all the hypnotized volunteers and told us the dangers of parties.  He showed us all that it doesn’t take much time for someone to drug a drink if it is not watched at all times.  We all learned that you can never be too careful at a party by being cautious of your surroundings. This event was a great time and we all learned a great lesson from it.

On October 13, an Afternoon of Service was hosted by Commuters on the Go. The event was held in the Campus Center Event Room, and served to fulfill a short-term Honors service requirement. About thirty or so students attended the event, which included a number of small service projects to benefit the less fortunate.

The projects involved in the Afternoon of Service included building teddy bears for children in the hospital, creating small baskets for poor mothers and homemade birthday cards for homeless children. I personally participated in the birthday card activity with a handful of other students from my dorm building. Over the course of the event, a large number of cards were created, many with corny, birthday-related puns decorating the covers, others with a more simple “Happy Birthday” and stickers. The mothers’ baskets station, which made small baskets and cards for Mother’s Day, saw no less creativity. I personally think it was a bit early for a Mother’s Day-themed service project, but it probably came down to the logistics of collecting and distributing the baskets. The final station, which created teddy bears for children in the hospital, was a longer process and as such continued into the reflection session at the end of the event.

The reflection session following the event served to tie together three separate activities that initially have little in common with each other. The actual reflection involved participants writing the most important people, traits and physical objects in their lives, trading with someone else, and throwing away one of the other person’s cards. This served to illustrate the situation of the people this program was designed to help – having lost something dear to them without having had any sort of say in the matter. The reflection was more powerful than I would have initially thought it would have been, and that is to the credit of the organizers of the event.

This Saturday (October 22, 2016) I volunteered with Stockton’s Model United Nations to help organize a simulation for Atlantic City High School students.  Stockton’s Model UN paired up with the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority to help introduce high school students to the Model UN experience, as well as learn about diplomacy and the actual United Nations.  October 24 is Model UN’s birthday, so the event was also to help celebrate the organization.

I was rather nervous for the event because I had only been in a simulation once before during Model UN club so I was still quite unfamiliar with how simulations run and what to do.  The volunteers were supposed to team up with one or two high school students to help them become acquainted with Model UN, so I doubted I would be much of a help for them.  Thankfully for me (though unfortunate for the event itself), only one person from Atlantic City High School showed up.  Apparently, there had been multiple events offered to the Atlantic City HS students during the same time as the Model UN Simulation, and none of the students chose our program.  Despite this, we decided to complete the simulation ourselves for practice, since many of the volunteers, like myself, didn’t have very much experience in Model UN.  We had two simulations ready to go, one on Global Development and Sustainability and another on Combatting Racism, and we decided on the Combatting Racism one.

I represented France, whose primary problems with racism included xenophobia, due to the large amounts of illegal Syrian and Pakistani immigrants in France, and was facing prison overcrowding because of that.  In my opening speech, I explained the problems France was facing and asked the other delegations for money to help fund educational programs so that the French public could understand what the immigrants were going through, help with prison overcrowding, as well as for countries who were not accepting many Syrian Refugees (like the United States) to start to.

Many other countries also felt as though education could help combat the racism in their country, as well as that the racist political rhetoric many politicians spread encourage citizens to take violent actions against minorities.  There were eight countries, including France, that sponsored and wrote a resolution on Education and Political Reform.  The resolution stipulated that .07% of UN countries GDP would go toward a fund to create educational programs that would focus on language, cultural differences, and world issues, and the programs would be monitored by UN officials.  In addition, the Political Reform part of the resolution was modeled off a Kenyan law which forbids hate speech from politicians, elected officers, and others in positions of state and government office.  The resolution passed almost unanimously, which was a proud moment for myself and the other co-sponsors of the bill.  We even got Russia on board, and they were originally against helping solve any other country’s racism.  Despite a rough start, the simulation ended up being quite successful.