On September 27^th, Stockton Political Engagement Project sponsored Constitution Day presented by Dr. Akhil Reed Amar.  When first learning about this event, I wasn’t particularly excited to attend the event.  In my high school years, history wasn’t my favorite subject, especially in the realm of politics and government.  Still to this day, I stay away from politics mainly because I feel as if I am not educated enough in that area.  Yes, I have my beliefs on certain political issues and I stand by them firmly, yet I have the fear that my lack of education will make me appear unintelligent when trying to engage in a political conversation.  In fact, I fear that my voice will not be heard but that it will be squandered and disregarded. From the talk presented last Wednesday, I felt as though my knowledge on American political history and current events elevated and now I can hold an intellectual conversation with my peers.

For Dr. Amar to even consider coming to our institution was a big deal.  Not only is he a renowned orator and professor of law and political science at Yale College and Law School, he  was also given an award for Teaching Excellence.  In the discussion held, Dr. Amar took a very enthusiastic approach to relaying the information and knowledge of politics to his audience.  Due to this enthusiasm, I was enthralled throughout the entire duration of the program- feverishly jotting down notes as I listened to Dr. Amar speak.  Most of the information he relayed was that of which I had learned my junior year of high school in my AP US History class.  Knowledge that I had previously known was the 14th amendment, which was recently discussed in my Honors Freshman Seminar class, along with the political unrest between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists when composing the Constitution.

However, there was information presented that was news to my ears.  For instance, I was fond of the fact that Dr. Amar incorporated Richard Stockton, the man whom our institution honors, into his lecture.  What made this incorporation intriguing was that I didn’t know that Richard Stockton was alive as well as an active member in politics in colonial America.  Also, I was unaware that he was captured, tortured, and broken by the British.   In addition, there was a quote that resonated with me: “The world is becoming American.”  When first hearing this, I was puzzled. How could the world become Americanized?  Once Dr. Amar explained the meaning behind the quote though, it was no longer baffling to me.  He claims that by America declaring its independence and then by establishing its own government, the country launched the idea of democracy to the world.  To me, this gives me a great sense of pride and patriotism for our country.  It is impressive to say that our country spearheaded a take on politics yearned for by countries throughout the world.  Overall, I felt as if this experience enlightened me immensely on American politics.

By: Amanda Romeiser

On Monday, October 17, 2016, I became a member of the walking dead, or rather the limping dead. My transformation came about during an event known as Humans vs. Zombies (HvZ), which is hosted by Stockton’s Live Action Games, or L.A.G., Club. This 24-hour week long game of tag is one of many HvZ games that is played at different schools, camps, neighborhoods, libraries, and conventions around the world. All players begin as humans, except for one player who is chosen to be the “Original Zombie” (OZ). The identity of the OZ remains a mystery until he or she tags a human for the first time, turning that human into a zombie. When humans are turned into zombies, humans must place the green bands that were originally around their arms around their heads. A human’s only defense against the zombies are socks, marshmallow shooters, or Nerf guns, which stun zombies for 2 minutes, giving the human a chance to run away. Luckily for the humans, there are safe zones around campus, like the buildings and staircases, where they cannot be attacked by zombies.

Stockton’s HvZ game began on the night of Sunday, October 16, following the kick-off meeting. When I originally signed up to play, I had two fully healthy knees. Unfortunately, I sprained my MCL and bruised my bone during a Quidditch tournament on Saturday, October 8. Due to this injury, I knew going into the meeting on Sunday night that I was not going to survive very long. My goal was to make it past Monday night.

In addition to the game play that occurs around campus during the day, the moderators, who are the members of the L.A.G. Club who run the game, created missions each night to bring the humans and the zombies together. These missions began at eight o’clock, and their theme involved a nutty professor and chicken nuggets. It was during Monday night’s mission that I joined the undead. I already had the iconic limping zombie walk mastered, so my transformation was effortless.

As in all games, there are winners and losers of HvZ. The zombies win if all human players are tagged and turned into zombies, while the humans win if the last zombie starves to death, meaning that the zombie did not tag anyone within 48 hours. This was my fate, but overall the zombies won this semester’s HvZ game. I thoroughly enjoyed my first experience playing Humans vs. Zombies, and I look forward to my next, during which I will hopefully be fully capable of running for my life.

On October 19, I attended another party for the third political debate in the Campus Center Board of Trustees.  This event was run by professional staff members of the political science department at Stockton.  At this event, I was greeted with soda and popcorn.  Again, this debate viewing featured a bingo board since these debates continue to make Americans lose faith in their political system.  many different and quite ridiculous phrases were made into popular memes like “Bad Hombres, Nasty Woman, and Puppets.“  This debate was the most informative of the three, focusing on many different topics such as immigration, the economy, healthcare, gun ownership, and Isis in Syria.   Like the first event, this was also put together well with the inclusion of another projector displaying live tweets on the debate all night, snacks, and political entertainment.  The night ended with the moderator announcing a state (Nevada) which completed my bingo board.  I could have won a presidential PEZ dispenser but they had run out by the time I got bingo.  Now that all the debates are over, the American people can make their decision for who they want to destroy the country next.

As part of Stockton University’s Visiting Writers Program, Murphy Writing of Stockton hosted a live poetry reading featuring one of New Jersey’s very own poets, Gregory Pardlo. Mr. Pardlo visited the campus on Monday, October 10, and read a series of poems from his latest poetry collection, titled Digest.

Mr. Pardlo’s poems spanned a variety of topics, from childhood to parenthood to everything in between. Pardlo read poems about his family – poems about his parents, his aunt, his daughters – about his life as a kid, and about his newfound life as a parent. His poem’s worked in a variety of references both from history and popular culture, from Freud and Nietzsche to Prince and Arthur Ashe.

After reading about a dozen poems from his book, Mr. Pardlo opened up the event to an open discussion on poetry and writing. The discussion turned out to be just as interesting, as Mr. Pardlo was very open and charismatic while talking to the students in attendance. Questions were asked about Mr. Pardlo’s writing strategies, his family, and his first experiences writing poems. The most interesting question asked regarded what inspired him to become a writer. Mr. Pardlo responded saying that a copy of “Rolling Stone” magazine featuring Eddie Murphy on the cover was one of his first inspirations to begin writing, because he loved Eddie Murphy and wanted to become an entertainer like him.

After the question and answer session ended, the reading ended, with students told that copies of Pardlo’s book were for sale outside the theater. My friend and I left the theater and bought a copy of the book. While we paid for the book, Mr. Pardlo came out and sat next to the line, ready to talk to the students and sign copies of his book. Once I bought my copy, I went over to Mr. Pardlo and had him sign my book. We both grew up in the same area, so we discussed summer jobs at Wawa’s and Six Flags while reminiscing about the Jackson and New Egypt area.

Overall, the reading was very enjoyable, and I look forward to attending many more in the future.

– Dan Tidcombe

Mike Heine

Professor Rodriguez

Freshman Convocation

    Stockton University held its freshman convocation on September 29th in the Performing Arts Center. The event was organized by the university and Dr. GT Lenard, the director of freshman seminars. The purpose of convocation was to discuss the book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Ellen Forney, the book’s illustrator, was the speaker. Ms. Forney discussed the process of illustrating for Sherman Alexie’s book, highlighting the challenge of getting inside Arnold Spirit’s head in order to make the drawings as relevant as possible. She told us how she would pause at certain points as she read the draft and place an illustration at that point. After that, Forney discussed her own book, Marbles. Marbles is an autobiographical book discussing her experiences with bipolar disorder. In the book, she wrote about her feelings and how she dealt with mental illness on a day to day basis. Forney’s book also contained illustrations and she showed us several of them. At the end of convocation, the audience had the opportunity to ask questions. I did not ask her anything, but someone asked her if it was easier to illustrate for her own book or for someone else’s. I enjoyed this question and the ensuing discussion because she eventually started talking about her bipolar disorder. I don’t know many people affected by mental illness, but it is an interesting topic that I enjoy learning about. Overall, freshman convocation was an interesting experience with meaningful discussions and topics.

The event that I attended was the freshman convocation that occurred on September 29^th, 2016. This event was organized by the honors program freshman seminars, with special thanks to Georgeann Lenard. The convocation was a one-time performance that occurred in the PAC. This event hosted the lovely Ellen Forney, whom is the illustrator of The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. To begin, Ellen Forney went into detail of how she created her illustrations, and would show her illustrations on the screen to give examples. At one point, Ellen talked about how she would use facial expressions and words at the same time to confuse people and make an illustration seem more like a joke than something to be taken seriously. When she finished, Ellen Forney then discussed her illustrations that she created in her own personal memoir Marbles. Ellen Forney was able to share her personal experiences with bipolar disorder and how she was able to overcome her hardships a lot of times through drawing. She told the audience what it felt like to have others feel that you have one or more personalities that could come out at any time. Forney then discussed and answered questions from the audience, such as how she came to know Sherman Alexie and have the privilege of illustrating for him. Afterwards, she even signed her books for those that wanted a signed copy. This event was very enjoyable and useful if you really loved the summer reading book; however, it could be a little dry if the book did not have a personal meaning to you as much as it did for her, so you may not understand the significance of the illustrations. It definitely was a worthwhile experience, and in the end, no matter how I felt about it, it was still noteworthy to be able to meet an accomplished, and hard-working modern artist.

Kate Doherty

I can’t say that I have ever been an avid patron of the arts. I have seen high school plays, a few concerts, the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, but other than that, my attendance at performances has been scarce. On October 21, 2016, this changed. At Stockton each year, a dance company does a residency at the school. This year’s company was Lehrer Dance, a company from Buffalo, New York. At the end of their residency, my Writing from Experience class got the opportunity to work with the company. After interacting with them and hearing how passionate the dancers and choreographer were, I knew I had to go see them perform live in the Performing Arts Center. All performances at the PAC are funded by outside businesses and sponsors like the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation for example. This gives students the opportunity to see such worth-while performances at a very discounted price.

I bought my ticket alone so entering the theater, I was a little intimidated not sitting with people I knew. However, as strange as it sounds, I was so glad that I was sitting by myself. I could wholeheartedly pay attention and appreciate the performance. The company performed a sequence of modern style pieces and I was enthralled during the entire show. Each dance inspired a story in me as I watched the dancers interact. During one piece performed by three of the male dancers, I could understand the symbolism. The men were competing for power, moving in front of one another to take center stage; however, by the end of the piece, they were working together instead. Their interdependence and weight sharing at the end of the piece showed that as much as they want to be the only one in control, they rely on one another for support. I teared up as this dance ended feeling so moved by their performance.

I enjoyed the entire performance so much. In the programs that were handed out, there was a list of other performances that will be happening later in the year. I plan to attend as many of them as I can. I also have decided to take a dance class this upcoming semester to break up my course load and express myself while trying something new!

       Saturday, October 8th, was Stockton University’s 21st annual Osprey Ball.  Located in the event room of the campus center, the Osprey Ball was a semi-formal event from 9 p.m. – 1 a.m. that entailed food, loud music, a photo booth, and lots of dancing.  It was the final event of University Weekend, a weekend of events designed to give college students a chance to show their friends and families what Stockton is all about: good, clean, fun.   

       I brought my boyfriend, Jake, to the Osprey Ball.  It was really nice to have a chance to spend time with him, since he lives in Delaware and I don’t get to see him often.  I wore a sharp black dress, and he adorned himself in a matching black dress shirt and tie.  We both like to dress up fancy, so we took advantage of the occasion.  The only downside to the whole thing was that I saw a girl in the same dress as me…and my dress was three years old.  Good thing I don’t get embarrassed easily.  

       Although Jake and I aren’t very skilled at dancing, we still had a good time.  There was plenty of food for us to stuff our faces with: chicken tenders, veggie rolls, fruit, and more.  One thing I’ve learned in the short few months that I’ve been here: Stockton never lets anyone go hungry!

       The music was also really good at the dance.  The DJ played more than cheesy country songs (unlike my high school); the variety of genres was refreshing.  I heard old school rap, modern pop, EDM, and even some reggae.  Stockton really knows how to party.  

       What I really enjoyed the most about the dance was that it had such a different vibe to it: a happy, carefree one.  Stockton is so different than high school, and any other college campus I’ve stepped foot on.  Everyone was out on the dance floor, getting their groove on (whether they were rhythmically inclined or not).  Nobody seemed to care about anything but the music.  In high school, there was always drama on the floor: girls fighting over some irrelevant guy, friends feeling left out of a dance circle, or some other pointless event of frustration, but at the Osprey Ball, there was none of that.  I saw one guy performing moves akin to ones from Beyoncé music videos…hair flips and all.  It was pretty awesome; everyone was having such a good time.  The vibes were great.

       To conclude, I will most definitely attend next year’s Osprey Ball.  It was a good time with good friends, good food, and good music.  I’d suggest anyone that likes to dance and have a good time go.  The tickets were only $5 each (I took advantage of the pre-sale).  It’s a really fun, really cheap way to spend a Saturday night with your significant other or group of friends!  It’s also a really fun way to feel like an Osprey, and get into the Stockton spirit.  You only get four years, so enjoy them!             

Jessica Bolich

On October 13, 2016, Commuters on the Go sponsored the Afternoon of Service. Located in the Board of Trustees room, the service event appeared to be a smaller version of the Day of Service that was hosted towards the beginning of the semester. The Afternoon of Service began at 4:30 and lasted until about 6:00. It consisted of two parts: attendees working at service stations and a reflection session afterwards.

The Afternoon had three service stations; however, because of the turnout, some of the stations were spread across multiple tables. The first station consisted of making heart shaped baskets to give to elders living in nursing homes. The contents of some of the baskets included some small Mother’s day cards that were hand crafted by some of the students who came to the Afternoon of Service. At the second station, students sewed and stuffed teddy bears and heart-shaped pillows from pieces of colorful fabric. These gifts were created for young children afflicted with cancer. Students at the final station drew birthday cards for homeless families who could not afford to purchase cards or gifts for their children. The insides of the cards were left blank so the families could personalize the cards for their children.

The reflection session that followed the service was very powerful. The attendees were given three post-it notes and were instructed to write one thing on each of the notes: a person who was important to them, a thing that was important to them, and a trait that was important to them. After writing these things down, the participants were told to switch their post-it notes with somebody they did not know. They were then told to throw away one of the post-it notes before returning them to their original owners. This exercise was done to demonstrate the kinds of feelings people have when their important things are taken away from them, as with the groups for which the gifts were created. Although this service activity was not a part of a series of events, the participants were still able to help many people in need within a short span of time.

Jessica Bolich

Once again, presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump dueled in a battle of words during the second presidential debate. This time, the debate was a town hall style where undecided voters selected by the Gallup organization asked the candidates questions and other voters submitted questions through social media. Like the previous presidential debate, the moderators requested that the live audience remain silent and not use electronic devices for the duration of the debate, but the audience still required reminding throughout the course of the night.

When the debate began, each candidate was given a time limit of two minutes which both exceeded on occasion. Right from the first question, both candidates wasted no time inserting their campaign slogans into their answers. Not long after the debate had started, the footage of Donald Trump speaking about women in lewd ways, which has come to be referred to as the Trump Tapes, became the subject of the debate, and both of the candidates began to lash out at each other. Trump claimed that his words were just “locker room talk” and Clinton told the audience that she did not believe Trump was fit to serve as president. However, their words were not limited to the Trump Tapes. They also argued about each other going over the time limit and about who was interrupting whom. The debate ended with a question that shocked audiences: the candidates were asked to name one thing that they respected in the other. Clinton responded first by saying that as a mother and grandmother, she respected how Trump held the devotion of his children, and Trump replied that he respected Clinton’s determination.

This debate was broadcast live on October 9, in the Campus Center like the previous debates and sponsored by the Stockton Political Engagement Program. The third and final presidential debate will be viewed on October 19 in the Campus Center Board of Trustees room.