Friday, October 5, 2007 3

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*Society of Professional Journalists’ Best All-Around Non-Daily ‘06
Volume 78, Issue IV - Friday, October 5, 2007
FAdmin.
ight Night at Frat
Alcohol
policies
working?
claims
no party
By Jeff Frankel
By Paul Szaniawski
and Olivia Tattory
An alleged fight at the Zeta
Beta Tau (ZBT) fraternity house
on Sept. 29 resulted in multiple charges for ZBT brother
John Goodleaf and “bleeding
on the brain” for campus visitor
Andrew Endicott, police reported. Both men were charged
with underage drinking.
The incident occurred in
the first semester since the alcohol-related death of freshman
Gary DeVercelly last spring and
in the midst of a University
crackdown on alcohol abuse,
including a ban on alcoholrelated events in Greek houses.
The Lawrence Township
Police Department (LTPD)
received a call around 4 a.m.
Saturday reporting a head injury on campus. Public Safety
was also dispatched to the scene
at 4:15 a.m. after LTPD notified them an ambulance was
en route to a reported medical
emergency.
“We were notified of a
physical assault involving a visitor,” said Director of Public
Photo by Stephanie Nardi
A student wonders what happened early Saturday morning at the Zeta Beta Tau house.
Safety Vickie Weaver.
Near the front entrance
of Hill Residence Hall, Public
Safety officers found 19-yearold Endicott “injured and bleeding from the head,” and he was
taken to Capital Health System
- Fuld Campus in Trenton.
According to reports, he
was able to answer basic questions but could not provide
information about who assaulted him or why, just that it had
happened at ZBT. Endicott was
released from the hospital on
Monday.
Legal woes for Torney,
2 others get probation
By Paul Szaniawski
Two students who were
indicted for aggravated hazing
in the case of Gary DeVercelly’s
death were granted probationary Pre-Trial Intervention (PTI)
the same day a third chose to
move forward with his case.
Former president of Phi
Kappa Tau Michael Torney,
of Randolph, and his lawyer,
Michael Rodgers, decided to
pass on PTI and asked for time
to find more evidence. Just minutes earlier, Dominic Olsen,
of Kenilworth, and Adriano
DiDonato, of Princeton, were
accepted into PTI in front of
Judge Mitchell Ostrer. to avoid
a trial and a possible prison
term.
“Pre-Trial Intervention is
designed to rehabilitate defendants and return them back to
the community,” Ostrer said.
Olsen and DiDonato will
go through 36 months of probation, perform 100 hours
of community service, attend
alcohol counseling and also pay
fines of $125. If either student
commits a crime during the
probation the PTI is dissolved
and he could be prosecuted
again.
Once LTPD was at the
scene, the investigation was
turned over to them, said
Weaver. Since that point, the
case and any further investigation has been in the hands of
LTPD.
“We’re letting the police
conduct their investigation,”
said Weaver. “Rider Public
Safety has not conducted any
investigation.”
Although the first newspaper reports of the incident said
the scuffle occurred at a “party,”
University spokesperson Dan
Higgins was later quoted as saying that it was not a party.
The word is significant
because new University policies
prohibit “social events or parties in residence halls or Greek
houses where alcoholic beverages are served.”
“[The University] had never
said it was a party,” said Higgins,
in response to media reports earlier in the week. “It was an incident between two individuals.
There was no fraternity party.”
Recently
implemented
See ZBT, p. 2
‘We understand New Jersey
laws allows for first-time, nonviolent offenders to seek PreTrial Intervention. However, their
actions, although non-violent,
caused the death of a fine young
man.’
- Statement from the DeVercelly family,
read by Mercer County Assistant
Prosecutor Skylar Weissman
One part of the program
demands that if their former
fraternity brother were to go to
trial they would have to cooperate and give statements.
Rodgers asked Judge Ostrer
for a period of time to perform
discovery. The lawyer would like
to see more evidence, including
tapes seen by the grand jury
that indicted his client. The
judge set a new court date for
Nov. 27.
See Court, p. 3
All university-wide alcohol
recommendations are currently
in effect for this semester, but
it is unclear if they are working
in the “short period of time”
since their implementation in
September, University administrators say.
Dean of Students Anthony
Campbell and Debbie Stasolla,
vice chair of the Presidential
Task Force on Alcohol, Personal
Responsibility and Student
Life, were the guest speakers at
the Lawrenceville SGA meeting
on Tuesday, where they gave
updates and dispelled misconceptions regarding the new
policies.
“I have seen progress,” said
Stasolla in a separate interview. “I am also aware there are
concerns.”
She said the new policies
are not “static” and can be modified to reflect the community
better.
However, the initial draft
for Greek recommendations is
still on the drawing board and
the University is looking to
implement them in the spring
semester.
Whether or not the policies
are effective is another issue. It
has been a month since freshman move-in day and administrators do not know what
polices will work and what
won’t.
“We plan on assessing this
regularly,” Stasolla said. “We
would like to assess this at the
end of the fall semester. It’s
been a short period of time.”
Some students also appear
to be confused about some
of the policies, according to
administrators. The students
do not seem to fully understand the Good Samaritan policy, Campbell said at the SGA
meeting.
“Considering that there
are some students who didn’t
understand the policies, we
have to do some more marketing,” he said.
Stasolla pointed out that
See Policy, p. 2
Visit the Rider News Online at www.theridernews.com
2 Friday, October 5, 2007
Security Briefs
Harassment
A threatening message
on an answering machine
was received last week. It was
reported on Monday, Oct.
1, at 8 a.m., that on the
previous Friday, an office in
the BLC received a voicemail
from someone who spewed
profanity and threatened to
punch a male staff member.
The investigation is continuing and anyone with information should contact Public
Safety at x. 5029.
Bust
A small baggie containing what appeared to be
cocaine was found by a male
staff member. On Sunday,
Sept. 30, at 12:40 p.m., the
bag was found in the main
lobby of Hill Hall. Lawrence
Township Police responded
and took the substance for
classification. There are currently no suspects.
Theft
A purse was stolen from
an unlocked car in the commuter lot. It was reported on
Friday, Sept. 28, at 3:45 p.m.,
by the female complainant
that someone took her purse
containig identification and
an ATM card. Police services
were declined by the victim. The investigation is still
continuing and anyone with
information should contact
Public Safety at x. 5029.
Sick
An incident of underage drinking was reported at
Dayton Hall on the Princeton
campus on Sunday. On Sept.
30, at 2:47 a.m., Public Safety
reported to the residence hall
with a sick female underage
student. She said she had
been drinking off campus
and had slurred speech.
She was transported via
ambulance to a local hospital.
She has been charged with
breaking University code and
the matter has been referred to
the Princeton campus Office
of Community Standards.
— Compiled by Jeff Frankel
Information provided by Director
of Rider’s Department of Public
Safety Vickie Weaver.
Policy
Continued from p. 1
not all of the students in her
Freshman Seminar class fully
understood the Good Samaritan
policy, where they can report
sick underage students without
campus repercussions.
“[It’s] an eye-opening experience with students,” she said.
“It really hit home for me [that]
we have to [answer] these questions.”
The Good Samaritan policy was designed so that the
caller or the victim will not be
penalized by the University for
calling for medical help if he or
she is underage.
It was formulated so students “won’t make medical
decisions” for others whose lives
may be in danger, Stasolla said.
Last spring semester, freshman Gary DeVercelly died after
allegedly drinking three-fourths
of a bottle of vodka in less than
30 minutes. Others at the party
reportedly placed DeVercelly
in a room after he passed
out instead of calling for an
ambulance.
Lawrence Township officers
are required to cite underage
drinking as a local ordinance
violation, including underage students transported to the
hospital for intoxication. The
violation requires appearance in
court and payment of a fine.
Local ordinance violations do
not typically appear on criminal
history checks, Stasolla said.
ZBT
Continued from p. 1
campus policy requires regular
walkthroughs and, according to
Higgins, Public Safety began
the final walkthrough of the
Greek houses at 3:15 a.m. No
disturbances were reported.
According to Lt. Charles
Edgar of LTPD, once police got
word of the severity of Endicott’s
injuries, they began their investigation. After arriving to the
ZBT fraternity house, LTPD
officers reported that they saw
anywhere from 15 to 30 people
inside the basement area.
“I don’t know exactly how
many people were there,” said
Edgar. “The officers who were
at the scene reported that
approximate number.”
Weaver said it isn’t the
numbers that define a party.
“You have to look at the
dynamics, look at the behavior,” she said.
When asked for comment
about the number of students
LTPD observed Saturday night,
Higgins said that at the time he
had not spoken with the police
directly and did not hear that
number.
However, during a later
Photo by Karly Hamburg
Administrators say it is too early to judge new policies governing student alcohol consumption.
Campbell also said that students with off-campus housing can still face University
penalties if they get in trouble
with local police, but this is
not a new tactic. Towns and
Communities Together (TAC)
is a partnership between neighboring towns, universities and
bar owners that report incidents
to one another, he said.
Several Lawrenceville SGA
members said the new alcohol
policy is too vague and does not
give definite answers. But that
is exactly what the University
wants.
“To define it so specifically makes it hard to enforce,”
Stasolla said.
phone conversation, Higgins
said the number of students
was no cause for suspicion.
“There is nothing abnormal about that number of people being [in the basement of
ZBT],” said Higgins. “It’s a
resident house where they live.
There wasn’t anything going on
with them or any party.”
Mark Fisher, the University’s
new substance abuse prevention
specialist, said that if it was in
fact a party, it was not permitted. Fisher also pointed out that
ZBT is “very aware of what the
new policies are.”
Goodleaf, a junior majoring in advertising, faces charges
of aggravated assault, underage
drinking, possession of marijuana under 50 grams, and
intent to distribute the same
drug. The visitor, Endicott, was
charged with underage drinking and possession of under 50
grams of marijuana.
In addition to the criminal
charges, Higgins confirmed that
Goodleaf is facing disciplinary
action from the University.
“The Rider student is going
through Rider’s discipline process,” said Higgins.
Campbell went on to say
that unlike the law, which is
clear and is only seen as right
and wrong, Rider’s new policies
allow for discussion.
“You wouldn’t want everything black and white,” he
said.
The mandatory online
program
for
freshmen,
AlcoholEDU, designed to track
drinking patterns around the
school and country, was completed on Wednesday.
Freshmen who did not
complete the program are not
eligible for course selection for
the spring semester or for housing selection.
“We feel this course is
important for freshmen,”
Stasolla said.
In addition to the new policy-related recommendations
already in effect for this semester, five additional Public Safety
officers have been added, for a
total of seven hired since the
start of the semester.
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Friday, October 5, 2007 3
Fisher named as new substance abuse specialist
By Danielle Flood
Creating a consistent message regarding the alcohol policy is the main goal of newly
appointed Substance Abuse
Prevention Specialist Mark
Fisher.
A former counselor at New
Horizons Treatment Services as
well as an adjunct counselor
in Rider’s Counseling Office
at Westminster Choir College,
Fisher was hired Sept. 10.
He wants the various clubs
and organizations, such as SGA
and Greek Life, to come together and have one unified message
in relation to the school’s alcohol policy.
“Education is the best thing
we can do; try to be proactive,”
Fisher said.
Another step that will help
the new alcohol policy is the
creation of Rider Initiative for
Substance-Abuse Education
(RISE), he said. Like several
other college programs that
specialize in alcohol and drug
awareness, RISE will educate
students on the dangers of alcohol abuse and discuss in detail
aspects of drinking such as
binge drinking, signs of problematic drinkers, myths and
facts about drinking and tips
for safe partying.
The idea of the RISE pro-
A Closer Look
Who: Mark Fisher
What: Substance Abuse
Prevention Specialist
Started: Sept., 10
Previous Jobs: Counselor
at New Horizons Treatment
Services in Trenton, N.J.,
and adjunct counselor in
Rider’s Counseling Office at
Westminster Choir College
on the Princeton campus.
Education: B.S. in speech
and dramatic arts from
Central Michigan University
and an M.A. in community
counseling summa cum laude
from The College of New
Jersey. In addition, he holds
certification as a National
Certified Counselor.
gram came at a time when
Rider was once again in the
news for an incident at a fraternity house. Last Friday, the
incident allegedly took place in
the basement of Zeta Beta Tau,
where two young men, one a
Rider student, the other a visiting guest, had an altercation
which ended with the guest in
the hospital.
Different sources have different ideas as to what happened that Friday morning.
Fisher said there was no party,
as the brawl took place at 4
a.m., but that both individuals
had been drinking. No one
seems to know what started
the fight or exactly what happened. Fisher said there was no
party or violation of the alcohol
policy precipitating the fight.
Fisher said his direction
will not change as a result of the
incident. He is still planning on
reaching out to Greek Life as
well as to other students.
In order to educate the
Rider community, Fisher is
currently talking to several students and meeting as many
people as possible. His goal of
reaching out to the community
involves residents and commuters on both the Lawrenceville
and Princeton campuses. Fisher
is also in communication with
the Lawrence Township Police
Department.
Fisher places heavy emphasis on education. He said his
job is “not the enforcement of
the rules,” but rather to “outreach, educate and coordinate
with a slight counseling aspect.”
For the time being, Fisher’s
office is located in Zoerner
House, but he says he plans on
moving his office to the student
center and hopes to specialize in
both alcohol and drug issues.
Court
Continued from p. 1
At first, Skylar Weissman, assistant prosecutor of the Mercer County
Prosecutors’ office, was surprised Torney
did not accept the PTI.
Earlier this week The Times of
Trenton reported that Torney is not
eligible for PTI for first-time offenders.
The publication reported Torney was
sentenced last June to a year of probation after he pleaded guilty two months
earlier to a conspiracy to distribute less
than one ounce of marijuana.
Now Torney faces a charge of aggravated hazing that carries a maxium penalty of 18 months in prison and a fine
of $10,000 or less. Compared to him,
DiDonato and Olsen may be getting off
easy – too easy for the parents of Gary
DeVercelly.
“We understand New Jersey law
allows for first-time, non-violent offenders to seek Pretrial Intervention," Gary
Sr. and Julie DeVercelly said in a statement read by Weissman. "However,
Photo by Karly Hamburg
Substance Abuse Prevention Specialist Mark Fisher was appointed Sept. 10. He once worked at Westminster Choir College.
Fisher remains strong on
educating and supporting the
Rider community. His goal of
creating one unified and cohesive message on alcohol abuse
and awareness within the com-
their actions, although non-violent,
caused the death of a fine young man.”
The parents said their family has
been devastated over the loss.
“Although we will never get our son
back or our children’s big brother back,
36 months is a minimum sentence, said
the DeVercellys.
Anthony Cambell, dean of students,
would not comment on the latest court
development. However, after months of
Rider’s Judicial Affairs’ keeping quiet,
he said the University may also bring
charges against DiDonato, Olsen and
munity has remained the same.
He plans to continue talking
to many students and increasing their knowledge about the
dangers of substance abuse.
Torney.
“We’ve held off on all that since
they were on trial,” Campbell said. “We
didn’t want to interfere with the criminal proceedings.”
Keith Kemo would not comment
on whether University charges have been
brought against Olsen and DiDonato
yet. He couldn’t say because Torney was
still in court.
“When we know it’s over, we will go
forward and resume our investigation,”
Campbell said.
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4 Friday, October 5, 2007
Miss N.J.: Blackmail threats were ‘nasty’ tactics
By Jess Hoogendoorn
Facebook is not as private as
some students may think, said
Amy Polumbo, winner of the
2007 Miss New Jersey crown.
She reminded students of the
consequences associated with
online postings during her lecture entitled, “Your Electronic
Image,” which took place in the
Bart Luedeke Center Theater
on Wednesday, Oct. 3.
Polumbo was blackmailed
two weeks after being crowned
Miss New Jersey. According to
her, the blackmailer was someone she considered a friend
because he or she had access
to Polumbo’s private Facebook
account. The blackmailer
accessed pictures posted on
Polumbo’s Facebook and added
“nasty” captions to the photos. In order to undermine the
blackmailer and keep him or
her from sending the pictures
to her sponsors, Polumbo said
she had to make the pictures
public.
“Again, it’s still very embarrassing to see these pictures up
on the screen,” said Polumbo.
“It’s not because I think these
Photo by Hugh Tsung
Miss New Jersey, Amy Polumbo, spoke about the dangers of photographs on the Internet.
pictures are horrible, because
I’m certainly not doing anything illegal. I’m fully clothed
in all these photographs and
I’m not even drunk in these pictures, but they certainly don’t
represent a young woman.”
Miss New Jersey told stu-
dents to be aware of what they
post online and what others
are posting about them. She
explained that when it comes to
the Internet, “privacy is an illusion.” Polumbo gave students a
list of three rules to follow when
dealing with the Internet.
First, she said students
should never post things that
they do not want others to see
because the Internet “is like a
billboard.” Second, Polumbo
warned students to be careful of whom they trust and
allow into their private groups.
The final rule was that students should keep track of what
others are posting about them.
“Think twice about it and
really put yourself outside the
box,” said Polumbo. “Think,
OK, this is OK between my
friends and I, but what if someone is looking at this, if it’s
a professor, or someone that
wants to hire me at a job.”
Polumbo said she wants
others to learn from her experience. She encourages college
students to go through their
networking sites and delete
anything that could be used
negatively against them.
“The bottom line is that
the Internet is forever,” said
Polumbo. “So when your college years are over and done, the
Internet, whatever you post on
there, whether you delete it or
not, will be on there. Just keep
that in mind.”
Polumbo also said that her
experience is not unique.
“It’s not just my own [experience]; it’s something that has
happened to people all over the
country in every type of profession,” said Polumbo.
Strike on hold as union and administrators resume talks
By Paul Mullin
Negotiators from the faculty union
and the administration have agreed to
extend the present contract indefinitely
on one week’s notice, essentially making
the bargaining process a week-to-week
engagement.
This new set of circumstances means
that “either party can end the extension
of the contract by providing the other
party one week’s notice of their intention to do so,” as stated on www.rideraaup.org.
“If we said that we were giving them
notice, that would mean that at the end
of that notice we are intending to go on
strike,” said Dr. Jeff Halpern, the union’s
chief negotiator.
Both sides also agreed to increase
the weekly bargaining sessions to two
days a week in an effort to speed up the
negotiation process.
“One of the problems is that I have
to consider the ability of my team to do
that and teach a full [course] load and
take care of family obligations,” Halpern
said. “There is a limit to the ability
of people on the team to keep up this
pace.”
This new agreement helped the two
sides narrowly avoid a possible strike
on Monday, Oct. 1 during a fruitful
negotiating session the Friday before,
where the parties made progress toward
an agreement on another article and the
administration withdrew several of its
proposals.
“We felt we wanted to focus on
some key articles under discussion at the
time,” said Dr. Don Steven, provost and
vice president of academic affairs. “We
recognize our responsibility to continue
to make progress in a timely manner.”
According to Steven, the administration did not feel that the withdrawn
proposals were a hindrance to progress at the table, but were simply “less
important at this point in time.”
The vote to authorize a strike was
made on Sept. 18, and along with the
ability to call for a work stoppage, the
union leadership was granted by its
members the options of stopping all
uncompensated work and conducting
informational picketing — two preemptive alternatives to striking that
would serve to put pressure on the
administration to come to an agreement.
“I don’t think the University wants
to see a picket line out front on an open
house day, which is a possibility even
without a strike,” Halpern said. “The
knowledge that the University has that
we can do that, I think has had a positive
impact [on the negotiations].”
Freshmen cast votes for Abushaban, Gray, Buonpastore in cutthroat election
By Monique Guzman
After weeks of fierce and
creative campaigning, the freshmen elections came to a close
the evening of Oct. 2. The winning candidates were Hamzah
Abushaban for class president,
Robert Gray for class vice president and Mitchell Buonpastore
for class treasurer.
“I am here to listen to what
you have to say,” Abushaban
said. “As president, I welcome
the entire class as a whole to
share their thoughts and ideas
on any issue.”
A double major in Finance
and Economics, as well as an
active participant in EOP, BSU,
Emerging Leaders, SERVES,
MSLI, ROCAS, MSA, Dance
Team and other organizations,
Abushaban’s primary motivation for running for office was
because he was interested in
promoting the freshmen student body’s ideal future to the
best of his ability.
Some improvements he
hopes to make include providing more entertainment on
campus to keep students from
packing up for the weekend,
endorsing community closeness, lowering prices to prolong the use of Bronc Bucks,
and negotiating store and foodavailability hours.
“Leadership is action, not
position,” Abushaban said.
Gray, a Communications
TV and Radio major, agreed
with Abushaban that more
big weekend events should be
planned to keep students on
campus.
“I thought it was a great
way to be involved and take
a leadership role among the
class,” Gray said about his reasons for running. “I’ve always
felt the need to voice the opinions and agendas of my own
and others.”
Gray was active in high
school. He was a student leadership officer and president of the
Black Student Union, as well as
a member of Model UN, Youth
and Government, Student
Government and Mock Trial.
Currently, Gray participates in
several campus organizations.
“Everyone seems to be
pretty dedicated,” Gray commented on his party members. “I feel the relationship between
the SGA officeholders and our
freshman class will definitely
be mutually receptive. I really
want to thank everybody. You’ll
find organization, action and
honest leadership in my actions
as vice president.”
Accounting
major
Buonpastore, the class treasurer stated, “There is no doubt
Rider University is a great institution of knowledge. The more
involved people are, the stronger the Rider community will
become.”
Sharing the concerns of his
fellow party members, he hopes
to raise school spirit among the
freshman class and see more
people attending and supporting Rider sporting events.
Active in Emerging Leaders
and the Accounting Society,
Buonpastore felt that by running for treasurer he could apply
his “positive attitude and sense
of responsibility toward [his]
community and help develop
the skills needed to succeed in
the business world.”
Buonpastore extended his
sincerest thanks to his cam-
paigners and voters and promised to, “work hard to make this
year exciting and rewarding for
my classmates.”
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Friday, October 5, 2007 5
Crop Walk aims to stamp out worldwide hunger
By Aimee Zabel
Members of the Rider
community gathered Sunday
to raise money as part of the
Crop Walk, a nationally sponsored event held annually in the
fall. Participants completed the
10-kilometer walk around the
Mercer County area in an effort
to stamp out hunger worldwide.
Sponsored by the Rider
Campus Ministry, the Crop
Walk is nationally funded by the
Church World Service, an organization that works to provide
relief and meet human needs
around the globe. The Crop
Walk not only raises money
to provide necessary goods for
people who are affected by poverty and other disasters, but it
also serves to raise awareness for
those who are not familiar with
the number of poverty-stricken
people in this country.
“I truly hope that students
will take a closer look at the
Crop Walk slogan, ‘We walk
because they walk,’” said the
Rev. Nancy Schluter, head of
Rider’s Protestant Campus
Ministry. “Students and other
people need to realize who the
‘they’ are. One in seven people is hungry. Some people in
this country have to walk to
get food, water, to get to their
jobs — things that we take for
granted.”
Schluter pointed out that
not only does the Crop Walk
target the nation’s poverty, but
it also focuses on the fact that
this country has huge surpluses
of crops and other things that
are taken for granted. The Crop
Walk makes the statement that
not enough is being done to
stamp out hunger in the United
States, let alone in the rest of
the world. But by mere participation in walks or food drives,
it is possible to gradually help
solve the problem, one person
at a time.
In addition to an outpouring of community participation
in the walk, several groups of
Rider students joined in the
fight against hunger. Rider
SERVES, a community service
organization centered on campus, collected $446.75 from
students in the residence halls.
Several sororities and fraternities, such as Phi Sigma Sigma,
Delta Phi Epsilon, Sigma Phi
Epsilon and Tau Kappa Epsilon
also participated in the walk.
Junior Stephanie Dutcher,
a sister of Phi Sigma Sigma and
the secretary of Rider SERVES,
thinks it is important for students to participate to help
those in need.
“The average age of a hun-
‘I truly hope that students will take
a closer look at the Crop Walk
slogan, ‘We walk because they walk.
Students and other people need
to realize who the ‘they’ are. One
in seven people is hungry. Some
people in this country have to walk
to get food, water, to get to their
jobs — things that we take for
granted.’
- The Rev. Nancy Schluter, head of
Rider’s Protestant Campus Ministry
gry person is seven years old,
according to statistics, and
that is just way too young,”
she said. “There are far too
many people that are hungry
in Mercer County alone. I am
here because I am really hoping
to make a difference.”
A conversation with Dr. Watson
By Ashley Neptune
With a new school year
comes many new faces. The
Rider News will be showcasing these faces throughout the
semester with a series of question-and-answer interviews. For
the first installment of the Q&A
series, Ashley Neptune sat down
with Dr. Elizabeth Watson, associate professor of Education.
Q: What was the last
school you taught at?
A: Stevens
Technology.
there
for
Institute of
I
taught
10
years.
Q: What was your favorite
subject growing up and why?
A: Math.
derful
I
had wonteachers.
want to continue exploring it.
Q: What is your favorite book?
Q: Where did you graduate
from and what did you study?
A: Horse Heaven by Jane Smiley.
It’s an absolutely beautifully written story and it’s great fun to read.
A: Teachers College of
Columbia University. Adult
Learning and Leadership.
Q:
What
is
favorite
TV
Q: What are your hobbies?
A: My main one is riding
horses. I also love to travel.
I’ve actually ridden horses in
Europe. I’ve ridden in Spain,
Portugal, Wales, Germany
and Italy. It’s a great way for
me to combine both things.
your
show?
A: That’s a hard one. I’m going
to go with The Apprentice. One
of my research interests in group
behavior are group processes and
creativity in groups. The people
on that show have to use a lot of
that. It’s a neat thing to see what
they do and how they interact.
Photo by Stephanie Nardi
206 late night work
Trucks line up on the Lawrenceville Campus waiting to get
to work paving Route 206. Construction started Monday.
HAVING A MEETING OR EVENT?
Q: Why did you come to Rider?
A: Because I like the people a
lot and I think the organizational leadership program is a
wonderful program. I believe
it would be very interesting for me to work with it.
Schedule space on campus and publicize
your event on the Rider University calendar.
Q: What drove you to teach?
A: Role models. Teaching is
a gigantic challenge and it’s
really important. I want to help
people see, grow and develop.
Q: What drove you to teach
the subject that you do?
A: I have a lot of curiosity. It’s
fascinating. There is so much
interesting material and I
Visit www.rider.edu/eventrequest
6 Friday, October 5, 2007
Ideas from abroad arrive in class
By Monique Guz
Office 367 on the third
floor of Fine Arts belongs to
Dr. Hernan Fontanet. But his
world is far larger than that.
Born in Buenos Aires,
Fontanet grew up with the
ambition to teach and is bringing changes to the University’s
Department
of
Foreign
Languages and Literatures.
Fontanet said he loves to
communicate, which brought
him to his job as a teacher.
“To teach is to communicate,” he said. “I want to be part
of the communicating process
because I feel that I can help
somebody. I like people, and
I like researching knowledge.
Communicating, researching
and helping are all parts of the
learning process.”
Fontanet pursued degrees in
European history in Argentina
and Latin American literature
in Spain. Upon receiving his
Ph.D., he participated in a
work-abroad program with 30
other professors sent from the
Ministry of Education to teach
in Connecticut institutions.
When he was a professor at
Yale University, Fontanet decided to transfer to the University
of North Carolina, where he
taught for two years. Still in
the pursuit of something more,
he was impressed with Dr.
Linda Materna, chairperson
of the Department of Foreign
Languages and Literatures,
and took the offer to teach at
Rider.
“Linda Materna is a positive, active and creative person,”
Fontanet said. “I felt like this
was the place to be. So much
was going on and I wanted to
be a part of it.”
Fontanet wants to establish
two creative majors: Spanish
communications and Latin
American studies.
The Spanish communications major would encompass
all aspects of the Spanish media;
Fontanet said he feels that students in general are not given
enough opportunity to study
these areas. Currently, he is
hoping to develop a bilingual
radio and television show at the
University.
“They would learn how to
apply perfect Spanish in front
of the camera and how to write
proper Spanish for the Internet
and newspaper,” he said.
The second major is Latin
American studies, which he
supported with two reasons for
its importance.
“In the 2000 elections,
there were 5.9 million Spanish
voters,” Fontanet said. “In the
upcoming 2008 elections, there
will be 13 million.”
Latin American studies are
also vital to students for economic reasons, according to
Fontanet.
“The necessity to have the
Americas work together toward
the free trade is essential,” he
said. “To complement invest-
Photo by Danielle Phillips
Dr. Hernan Fontanet, the newest professor in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, is looking to bring new opportunities to students interested in international affairs.
ment into international trade,
an interdisciplinary major,
including history, literature and
business administration, would
benefit profusely.”
Fontanet also said that
Portuguese is the largest spoken
language in South America.
“It’s not a widely taught
language here,” he said. “We
need to expand our studies in
this matter. We need to study
the cultural and social anthropology as well as the politics of
South America.”
Fontanet hopes to set
up student internships with
Telemundo and Univision as
well as provide an opportunity to work and study in Latin
American countries for a semester. It is an understatement to
say he is a strong advocate for
exposing students to the real
world.
His hobbies include playing soccer — he plays every
Saturday afternoon ­— playing
chess, writing and playing the
clarinet. Fontanet also admits
to being a movie buff.
“The last time I [watched]
TV was five years ago,” he said.
“I love movies. I suggest watching at least one movie per day.”
Fontanet held a showing of
Motorcycle Diaries in Conover
Hall on Oct. 4. The Oscarwinning film is about the life of
Argentinean revolutionary Che
Guevera. It’s part of what he
calls The Foreign Film Festival,
an event that he hosts on the
first Thursday of every month.
Princeton provides city life for Sanda students
By Laura Mortkowitz
Lily and Vera walk Rider’s campus
like any other students. They head into
Princeton twice a month, see a movie
and shop for clothes and makeup. They
are typical students.
Their dorm room has chocolates on
the desk and a box with a purse in it.
They like to buy Coach purses for presents. There is nothing particularly different about these two young women and
their daily lives from others on campus.
Except Lily and Vera are students
from China.
Lily’s Chinese name is Gong
Jieqiong and Vera’s Chinese name is
Zhang Xiaowei (in China, surnames
come first). Originally, they are students
from Sanda University in Shanghai,
China, and now they are visiting the
United States while they complete one
and two-year study programs at Rider.
The room they live in holds all of
their belongings in the U.S. The closet
is packed more than the usual students’,
and other items they have bought over
the last months have accumulated on
the floor when they ran out of space.
Their time is often spent studying
and attending class. While the rest of
the students go home for winter and
summer breaks, Gong and Zhang, along
with the rest of the Sanda students, take
classes.
“They’re like mini-classes,” Zhang
explained. “They’re like three weeks long
and we take classes every day.”
During these breaks for the rest of
students, the Rider campus is relatively
quiet and empty, and there isn’t much
available to the Sanda students in the
way of entertainment. So they have to
go off campus to spend their time that
is not being used to study.
Since the two young women live in
Shanghai when they’re home, Princeton
is a fairly large difference for them. They
compare Shanghai to New York City.
“It’s a big city,” Gong said. “It’s very
large and busy.”
Living at Rider does not allow them
to have that same experience of being
right in the heart of things and well
within walking distance of any shops
they might need.
The suburban setting is almost difficult for the girls and the other Sanda
students as they try to adjust. Their only
ways of getting to Princeton to shop is to
either rely on the buses or on any friends
with cars on campus.
Zhang says she also hangs out with
many American students, who can drive
her into town so she doesn’t have to rely
on the buses. It’s less of a hassle if she can
get a friend, but it still isn’t convenient. “The town is so small and quiet
compared to Shanghai,” Zhang said.
However, they spend their time
in town the same way countless other
young women do. Princeton has a number of shops that they enjoy going to,
such as the Coach store. The purses are
great gifts for these students to buy for
friends and family back home, since they
are considerably lower in price here than
they are over in China.
“We go shopping, a lot,” they said
together.
Clothes, shoes, makeup, hand
products. Anything and everything is
shopped for in Princeton. The price of
these items is lower here because of the
currency exchange. Plus, those items
that are large brand names are cheaper.
“At home we don’t have those
types of products,” said Zhang. “China
imports things so the price is higher.”
“Especially makeup,” Gong added.
Zhang has a certain weakness for
the Lindt chocolate store. The outside
doesn’t look like a typical shop and
inside, the store is wall-to-wall bags and
boxes and truffles. Right now on Zhang’s
desk is a bag of extra dark truffles.
“I buy a lot of chocolate,” Zhang
admitted with a laugh. At home, Lindt
chocolate isn’t as readily available to her
as it is when she’s here at Rider.
Neither Gong nor Zhang has seen
any plays at the well-known McCarter
Theater, though Zhang went there a
year ago to see a Chinese singing group.
Both girls are returning to China on
Dec. 25. Although Gong has only been
here for one year, Zhang has already
been here for two. Gong is studying
for her Master of Business Association
(MBA). Zhang completed three years
of school at Sanda and then came to
Rider to complete her fourth and then
her fifth year as part of her Master of
Accounting (MAcc) program.
For now, both girls will continue to
go into town in order to get anything
they might need in the room or any
presents they send home.
“It’s nice here, but too quiet,” Zhang
said. “We’re used to the city.”
Friday, October 5, 2007 7
The Dating Game
Student competes for the love of a Maxim model on MTV’s new reality show
By Andrew Straub
For many students, August
usually symbolizes the end of
summer and a time to start preparing to head back to school.
This was not the case for
Ryan Creighton, a senior business management major from
Flemington, N.J. At the end
of August, Creighton’s summer
was just beginning to heat up. Creighton was selected to
fly out to Los Angeles and be
a cast member on MTV’s new
reality dating show, A Shot at
Love with Tila Tequila, which
airs next week.
This isn’t Creighton’s first
MTV venture. Previously, he
tried out for another dating
show that never made it to
the airwaves. But Creighton
remained friends with a fellow
contestant who had connections with casting agencies.
“I found a link on Facebook
that one of my buddies, who I
met from another pilot show
on MTV, showed me,” said
Creighton. “I filled the form
out and started going through
phone interviews, then I sent
in a videotape and next thing
I knew I was flying out to
California.”
A Shot at Love centers upon
16 men and 16 women who
compete with each other to
win the affection of Maxim
and Penthouse cover model Tila
Tequila, who is bisexual.
The catch? Tequila’s sexual
preference was not revealed to
the male contestants until a
few days into the filming of the
show. This twist came as a complete shock to Creighton and
his male competitors, he said.
“We were a few days into it
and we had a pool party at the
house,” he said. “Tila said that
she had a surprise for us. All of
a sudden, 16 girls walk out on
the back patio and we were all
just stunned. We had no idea
what was going on.”
Creighton found the entire
experience incredibly eye-opening. He affectionately describes
Photo copyright MTV.com
Photo copyright Myspace.com
Senior Ryan Creighton (bottom left) competes with 15 men and 16 women to win the love of
Tila Tequila on MTV’s newest reality venture A Shot at Love, which premieres next week.
Tequila as “crazy, like no woman I have ever encountered.”
It wasn’t only Tequila’s
dynamic personality that threw
Creighton off-guard. This was
the first time he found himself
competing for a woman’s affection against other women.
“The [women] on the show
had a whole different set of emotions,” said Creighton. “They
were aggressive and didn’t want
anyone to have who they were
going after, so they were protective of their boundaries.”
As the premiere of A Shot
at Love approaches, Creighton’s
friends are still “astonished”
that they’ll be seeing him when
they tune in.
“When they see the commercials run, they can’t believe
it,” he said. “This show is the
biggest TV show MTV has ever
done. It’s a groundbreaking
show.”
When he’s not vying for
the attention of gorgeous bisexual cover girls, Creighton can
be found on the Lawrenceville
campus making full use of the
SRC’s fitness center or playing
intramural football and basketball. When looking back on his
experiences with such a large,
diverse cast of contestants,
Creighton attributes his outgoing sociability to the relationships he built at college.
“Everyone is just very open
with each other at Rider,” said
Creighton. “The whole campus
is almost like one big family, so
you get to get close to a lot of
people very quickly, and that’s
what I had to do.”
Although he is contractually prohibited to give away too
many inside secrets on A Shot at
Love, Creighton can offer just
one teaser.
“A lot of hooking up is
going to be going on,” he said.
“On my part, her part, everybody’s doing a lot of spit-swapping.”
A Shot at Love with Tila
Tequila premieres Tuesday, Oct.
9, at 10 p.m. on MTV.
October’s
Starbucks
concerts
Here are the upcoming
artists set to perform for the
Starbucks Live Music Series.
The concerts are held every
Saturday from 8:30 p.m. to
11:30 p.m. in the SRC lobby.
October 6: Andrew Vladeck
October 13: HelenaMarie
8 9
Friday, October 5, 2007
‘Halo 3’ an unlikely social blessing
‘Ratatouille’ spices up screen
Chris Taylor had only been working at
the GameStop in the nearby Quakerbridge
Mall for about a month when the muchanticipated Halo 3 was released last week.
Taylor thought he’d have to face crazed
fans and utter chaos when his store decided to plan a midnight release of the game.
But that night was nothing compared to
what happened the following weekend.
Taylor, a senior double psychology
and English major, was working in the
store on Saturday, Sept. 29, when a customer walked in and made the strangest
request Taylor had ever heard.
“[The customer] opens up his zipper
bag and out comes a [Nintendo] Wii,”
Taylor said. “Half the people in the store
were just staring at it. And he goes, ‘Yeah,
I wanna trade this in.’”
The customer, according to Taylor,
wanted to trade his current system, valued
at $170, and use that money toward an
Xbox 360 and Halo 3, which would cost
more than $400.
“He spent $430 just to play one
game,” Taylor said. “I guarantee that didn’t
happen in any other store except ours.”
Released exclusively for Microsoft’s
Xbox 360, Halo 3 falls under the category
of first-person shooter games. Gamers can
choose either the single-player campaign
or the multiplayer mode. According to
Taylor, the Halo series is a game for both
serious and casual gamers.
“It’s so easy to pick up and play,” he
said.
While Taylor doesn’t think Halo 3 is
worth trading in one’s worldly possessions
for, he admits that the game has a fierce
attraction among college students. Senior
By Oliver Joszt
By Jess Decina
Greg Binder, who’s had the game since the
early morning hours of Sept. 25, has been
engulfed by this tide.
“When people used to ask me what
the date was, I used to figure it out according to when Halo came out,” he said. “It
turned out to be a pretty big anticipation.”
On the night of the release, Binder
bolted out of a late-night rehearsal, picked
up the game (“There was no one on line;
I just picked it up immediately,” he said)
and was back in his room by 12:30 that
morning.
“I played it until six in the morning,”
Binder said. “When you’re playing Halo,
time means nothing.”
Binder wasn’t the only student who
ran to the mall that night. Senior Bryan
Arenas was the ninth person in line for
the game and had finished it before most
students had begun to wake up.
“The first thing I did was call everyone I knew to tell them I had beaten the
game already,” he said. “They all said, ‘If
you tell me what happens, I’ll kill you.’”
The game’s single-player mode takes
only about six hours to beat, according
to Binder. This lack of complexity in the
game’s plot is arguably one of Halo 3’s biggest weaknesses, Binder said.
“Compared to other games, it’s relatively short,” he said. “But it has a lot
going for it. There’s four levels of difficulty
and all these secrets you can get.”
Halo 3 also has special features that
its two predecessors didn’t have. One of
Binder’s favorite aspects of the game is
Forge, where players can alter maps as
they please.
“If you want to add a vehicle or weapon anywhere you want, you can,” he said. Photo by Stephanie Nardi
Senior Greg Binder and sophomore Jess Gallicchio duke it out in a Halo 3 multiplayer match. The game, released at midnight
on Tuesday, Sept. 25 for XBox 360, has pulled many students into its addictive, thrilling atmosphere.
Another feature allows players to film
and store their matches. This feature was
a great ego boost for Binder, who proudly
replayed his best games for others to see.
“You can film any part of the game
you want,” he said. “You can also download other people’s videos from on-line to
your XBox.”
But both Arenas and Binder agree:
You don’t play Halo 3 for the single-player
campaign or the flashy features. Halo 3’s
greatest strength lies in multiplayer mode,
where up to 16 players can compete
against each other.
“It’s going on with your friends and
having all of these messed up strategies
that you’ll never do in real life,” Binder
said. “It’s about communicating: the trash
CD Review
By Jess Royko
Rascal Flatts has done it again. After
the tremendous success of its 2006 album
Me and My Gang, fans could only wonder
just how much better these boys could get.
After only one year, Rascal Flatts follows
up the success of its previous album by
releasing Still Feels Good, which is its fifth
album to date since the band’s arrival in
2000.
The boys are all about bringing quality music to the fans, and this trio has
never sounded better. Gary LeVox, Jay
DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney bring
their best to this album with their outstanding vocals and undeniable skill for
making great music. The Rascal Flatts
record speaks for itself. In 2006, the band
became the best selling artist in all genres
of music.
The boys of Rascal Flatts manage to
harmoniously blend the sounds of country and pop together while adding their
own classic style to it. They deliver just
enough emotional songs, ranging from
heartfelt love to tormented heartache, to
please the fans.
The band members don’t hold anything back on this new album. They
“Better Now” invoke sadness and pain in
the fans with their powerful lyrics. While
“Help Me Remember” speaks of love
gone astray, “Better Now” tells a story of
lost love and regret. Both have an equally
profound emotional impact on the fans.
However, it’s not all about love songs;
there are a few “feel-good” catchy songs on
the album as well. Rascal Flatts has been
criticized for being more of a pop band
than a country one, so the boys make
sure to incorporate that country twang
into their fast-paced, catchy song entitled
“Bob That Head.” It’s a great song that
will leave fans snapping their fingers and
moving to the beat. Rascal Flatts makes
sure fans do just what the song says: “Bob
that head/Every Friday night/Got the
windows rolled down/The seat reclined/
Givin’ everybody that rock on sign/Yeah,
turn it up to ten/Hey y’all join in/Bob that
head.”
The album ends on a very somber
and tragic note, opening fans’ eyes to the
harsh realities of the world. The last song
on the album, “It’s Not Supposed to Go
Like That,” tells two stories of accidents
that led to death. It begins with two boys
playing with guns and moves to a story
of drinking and driving. The powerful
lyrics, co-written by country star Bobby
Pinson, have a tremendously deep emo-
talk [and] being good at it.”
Arenas, also a big fan of multiplayer
mode, is looking forward to hosting Halo
parties — get-togethers where all of his
friends can play the game.
“I love the atmosphere that it brings,”
Arenas said. “Getting a group of your
friends together to play is a lot of fun.”
What do you get when
you add an Oscar-winning
writer, a pinch of Pixar’s
amazing animation studio and
a dash of Disney’s magic? You
get a recipe for Ratatouille,
not only the best animated
film of the year, but one of
the best films of the year so
far.
People may be sick of
the recent ambush of animated films filled with talking critters, but Ratatouille
is completely different from
all of those movies. It is not
filled with shrill comments
crammed with bad pop culture references and even worse
jokes. Instead, this movie is
gorgeous, not only externally
but internally, too.
Ratatouille stars a
rat named Remy (Patton
Oswald), who is blessed with
an unusually keen
sense of smell and
infatuated with great
food. His family
doesn’t understand
his obsession with
gourmet food and
disapproves of his
human ambitions. After an unfortunate cooking
accident, Remy is
separated from his
family and winds up in Paris.
One evening Remy sneaks
into an ex-legendary restaurant, Gusteau’s, and using his
amazing sense of smell, cooks
a delicious soup.
Simultaneously, a downon-his-luck garbage boy, funnily enough named Linguini
(Lou Romano), takes credit
for Remy’s delicious, critically
acclaimed soup. Linguini is
then asked to start cooking for
the restaurant. He enlists the
help of Remy, so they have to
learn to work with each other,
avoid discovery and deal with
all the pressures that threaten
their unique partnership.
Among one of the threats
is Anton Ego (Peter O’ Toole),
a very judgmental and unsympathetic critic. Ego has already
ruined the late chef Gusteau’s
reputation. His office is strikingly in a shape of a coffin in
order to signify morbid and
lifeless emotions.
Visually, Ratatouille is
dazzling and beautiful, like all
of Pixar’s films. The fine grain
of every image in the film is
perfection. One can see the
scratches on the pot and the
fine details on each hair on
Remy. Even Paris looks brilliantly crafted from the sewers
to the rooftops.
Brad Bird comes back
with another amazing screenplay after his Oscar-winning
film The Incredibles. His ideas
are always easy to grasp, yet
stretch far beyond the typical
animated film. He turns our
perceptions of what we know
about rats against us.
The film is also a smart
commentary on society’s
love affair with food
and food-related
programs.
The majority of us, at one
time or another,
have watched
the Food
Network. Also, there is an
onslaught of reality food
shows appearing on TV, such
as Top Chef and Hell’s Kitchen.
Furthermore, Remy
teaches us that we can strive
to become something better
than we are expected to be
in life. Remy is a rat, but his
dreams are bigger than he is.
He does not let his handicap
of being a rat get him down.
At the same time, Remy
has to decide whether being a
chef is more important than
his unruly family, who do
not care what they eat. The
movie hints at the importance
of family and the dreams you
choose to pursue.
Ratatouille is packed
with the best elements
of story-writing to
create a complex
world. Ultimately,
Ratatouille leaves
viewers ready
for seconds.
Photo copyright Walt
Disney Pictures
Remy
t h e
rat tries
to catch a
break in the film
Ratatouille, which will
be shown in the BLC
Theater at 7:30 tonight.
iTunes single bids goodnight to pop newcomers
Country music’s Rascals return with fifth CD
co-write at least five songs and also get
contributions from fellow country stars
Kenny Chesney and Bobby Pinson.
They even kick it up a notch by collaborating with Jamie Foxx on the song
“She Goes All The Way.” Rascal Flatts
doesn’t disappoint fans as they showcase
beautiful lyrics and a mature sound to its
latest album, Still Feels Good.
The first single, entitled “Take Me
There” begins the album with an upbeat
tone. With its catchy tune and cute lyrics,
“There’s a place in your heart nobody’s
been/Take me there/Tell me about your
mama, your daddy, your hometown/Show
me around/I want to see it all/Don’t leave
anything out,” the members of Rascal
Flatts prove why they are so successful.
This song gives fans a chance to hear the
band’s classic sound.
“Here” is another inspiring track
about finding love and surviving the painful road to get there. The song follows the
journey of someone who swears he would
“relive all the years/and be thankful for the
tears/I’ve cried with every stumbled step/
that led to you and got me here.”
The album nicely transitions from love
songs to songs of heartbreak and loneliness.
Rascal Flatts tackles the pain of heartache
while emotionally reaching out to its fans.
Such tracks as “Help Me Remember” and
SEC Film Review
By Jordan Blum
Photo copyright Lyric Street Records
The members of Rascal Flatts released
their fifth album on Sept. 25.
tional impact: “It’s not intended to end
that way/Life is a journey constantly turning/Down an unknown path/But it’s not
supposed to go like that.”
Rascal Flatts cleverly named its latest
album Still Feels Good. The boys successfully show that it still feels good for them
to be on top and why they are destined to
stay there.
Fans are left satisfied after listening
to the beautifully inspiring and heartfelt
lyrics of the boys’ latest album. Tragedy,
heartache, love and plain old fun are all
wrapped into one album, leaving fans feeling good.
Each week Apple’s iTunes store features a “Single of the Week,” which comes
from an “artist or a band who’s on the cusp
of success,” according to iTunes. Often
times the songs are very hit or miss.
Newcomer The Last Goodnight is
the newest band to be featured as iTunes’
“Single of the Week.” The track, entitled
“Pictures of You,” comes from its debut
album Poison Kiss. The band may have
made a mistake releasing the track for free,
because the track isn’t even worth the time
it takes to download it.
The quintet met in high school and
earlier this year, Virgin Records signed
them. The group’s songwriting has been
compared to the brilliance of Elton John
and Supertramp, among others. Nothing
could be further from the truth. The Last
Goodnight is completely and utterly ordinary.
At around three minutes, the track
conforms to the expected length of a pop/
rock song. As a matter of fact, every aspect
of the music is cookie-cutter. The vocals
are slightly raspy but still don’t stand out
as anything unique. The production keeps
all the instruments at an even level. The construction of the song follows
iTunes offers free
sights and sounds
Photo copyright Virgin Records
The Last Goodnight released its first album entitled Poison Kiss on Aug. 28. The
band’s single, “Pictures of You,” was featured as iTunes’ “Single of the Week.”
the standard and unexciting order of verse,
chorus and bridge. True, other groups
have used these templates, but their melodies were better, the vocals surprising and
the timbre interesting.
Lyrically, the song reeks of rule-book
writing. The singer uses too many metaphors for what are “pictures of you, pictures of me, reminds us all of what we
used to be.” This piece is begging to be
used as the opening of a corny CW network drama involving wealthy high school
kids with problems. If the words provided
some intrigue, it might make the whole
package a little more worthwhile.
Overall, there is no conceivable reason
to spend three minutes with “Pictures
of You.” The song itself isn’t necessarily
bad. The insult and scoff comes when it
is compared to the countless tracks it is
derived from. There is nothing original or
worthwhile here, and it is shocking they
were signed to a major label. Let’s hope
this is the last of The Last Goodnight.
College students aren’t known for
having money to spare, so they like
when something free comes along. The
place with a lot of (legally) free stuff is
iTunes.
This on-line music store doesn’t
offer just one free single, but a variety.
A section on the homepage, under Staff
Favorites, is labeled “Free on iTunes.”
Click on “See All” for free TV episodes.
Every week iTunes offers a free
Spanish single, plus a “Discovery &
Download” single of different genres.
Pilot episodes for new shows like
Back to You and Gossip Girl are also
available. Season premiere episodes
for returning shows, like Desperate
Housewives and Everybody Hates Chris,
have free episodes.
You’ll need to sign up for an iTunes
account before downloading. iTunes asks
for a credit card, but it won’t get charged
unless you purchase something.
Check back every Tuesday when
iTunes replaces the previous week’s singles. As for the free episodes, they stick
around a little longer.
10 Friday, October 5, 2007
Editorial:
Lack of clarity
hinders progress
I
f you don’t get it right the first time, you do it again until
you get it right. That’s an invaluable lesson we all learned
at a very young age and one that Rider needs to heed if its
new rules and policies will bring about the change so desperately
needed. There is no question that student safety is at the heart of
the matter of the new regulations and that effort merits an A+.
On the other hand, the administration earns a C+ at best for its
enforcement and publicizing of information from the 18-page
Presidential Task Force report.
In an informal focus group conducted in a philosophy
course on Thursday, Oct. 4, only four students out of the class
of about two-dozen knew about the Task Force or policies. The
ones who did know were athletes and members of fraternities or
sororities. Fraternity brothers and sorority sisters were required
to attend a Greek 101 meeting (with the penalty of a fine for not
going) where the topics addressed included the alcohol policy.
Athletes had a speaker who spoke candidly about abusive drinking. Those efforts represent the type of education that should be
reinforced. Waving a big stick at underage students and telling
them not to drink may be a must, but having seminars and sessions where students learn to recognize the symptoms of alcohol
poisoning should also be given top priority.
While the new policies require resident students to sign
that they have received and understood the alcohol policy, we
all know that many simply put their “John Hancocks” on the
dotted line without even giving a second glance. And that is
exactly the problem. Inaccurate rumors swirling around campus
about the new policies are the first and only thing some students
hear.
One of the aspects of the policy that is unclear is the definition of a party. Previously, resident advisers would tell their
students a room with six or more people could be considered a
party. Now, the new policy has no explicit definition. It’s understandable that policy makers were reluctant to be too precise.
But the incident this past weekend at the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity house had the dynamics of what anyone with common
sense would call a party. Fifteen to 30 people in the basement at
approximately 4 a.m., as police officers on the scene reported, is
not what many would suspect to be a study session. The administration may be trying to provide students with some leeway
when hanging out, but this is obviously not working.
What makes matters worse is the way the University
handled media reports regarding this latest incident. University
spokesperson Dan Higgins insisted to media, “there was no party,” even though as of Wednesday afternoon he said he had not
yet spoken with the Lawrence Township Police Department.
There is not going to be a magical solution that makes
everything better. But, the “winking” that is going on by some
has got to stop. When it is all said and done, though, it is time
for students to start acting like responsible adults. Every move
students make is being scrutinized by the media, who are ready
to pounce on Rider since Gary DeVercelly’s death. A frat-house
fight that might have resulted in a news brief in the past became
headline news. That’s the hand we’ve been dealt. But we can still
win if we students start taking responsibility and show them
that Rider is on the right course.
This weekly editorial expresses the majority opinion of The Rider
News editorial board and is written by the Opinion Editor.
Quote of the Week
“Even when we know what is right,
too often we fail to act. More often
In the W
ords of
Student
Reactio
s:
ns to th
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Task For
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‘I think
in
[the poli some aspects
cies are
‘I think
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but I do
all t
g
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qually im he rules are
k enoug
people o
h
n
of them portant and all
about it campus know
ar
to make
why [the e the reason
it
effectiv
]
campus
e.’
night.’
is sad at
*
‘They ’re
*
a lot ha
rsher on
Greek L
ife.’
‘No[ne]
of t
u
*
nderage hem prevent
‘I hear t
drinking
ha
.’
rooms y t in the dorm
ou can h
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and not
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hing hap e parties ‘R
ider isn’
pens.’
t fun an
ymore.’
Think About It:
Moral fiber is fine-tuned over time
Like most college students, I was just about
18 years old when I first arrived at Rider as a
freshman. At the risk of plagiarizing that insipid
song from Rent, this means I was alive and well
for 6,570 days, about 157,000 hours, or around
9,460,000 minutes. Gregory J. Sullivan, an
associate at a Hamilton law firm, thinks that
this wasn’t enough time for me, or for you, to
earn the right to make decisions as individuals (“Cultivating moral fiber,” The Rider News,
9/28/07).
Mr. Sullivan discusses how, back before the
evils of the 1960s took their hold on the collective mind of America, schools acted in loco parentis and “regulated the personal conduct of the
students over whom they had responsibility.”
His words, not mine. Mind you, this was also
the grand old time when homosexuality was a
disease, and the phrase “separate but equal” was
in vogue, but if you happened to be a straight,
white student who could afford to go to college,
you sure as sugar weren’t
going to be getting yourself buzzed.
In all seriousness, let’s
look at the actual issue.
Mr. Sullivan believes that
Rider has a problem far
deeper than we realize, JP
and that this problem
requires a solution far Krahel
more sweeping than the
one currently being enacted. In short, he asserts
that the administration has dropped the ball
by not implementing a more severe system of
behavioral regulation, specifically one involving parental notification. The envisioned end
result of this policy is the preparation of college
students for “responsible citizenship in a regime
of ordered liberty.” After all, nothing promotes
responsible citizenship and liberty like saying,
See Moral, p. 11
Editorial & Managerial Board
Executive Editor
Sports Editor
Managing Editor
Assistant Sports Editor
News Editors
Photography Editor
Olivia Tattory
Charles Guthrie
Paul Mullin
Kristie Kahl
Jeff Frankel
Paul Szaniawski
Stephanie Nardi
Features and
Entertainment Editor
Jess Decina
Assistant Features and
Entertainment Editor
Laura Mortkowitz
Opinion Editor
Assistant Photography
Editor
Karly Hamburg
Enterprise Reporter
Stephanie Mostaccio
Delivery Manager
Tom Cooper
Advertising Managers
Faina Sandler
Rachel Boyes
Business Manager
Erin Massano
Webmasters
Jung Kwon
Keith Raymond
Copy Editors
Stephanie Mostaccio
Annmarie Mercieri
Faculty Advisers
Dr. E. Graham McKinley
Dr. Thomas Simonet
Jamie Papapetros
we grab greedily for the day, letting
www.theridernews.com
tomorrow bring what it will, putting
The Rider News welcomes letters on all subjects of interest to the Rider community. Letters must
be typed and include the name, address, phone number and signature of the author for verification. Send to The Rider News via e-mail ([email protected]), campus mail, or hand deliver to the
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Rider News reserves the right to edit all letters for space and clarity.
off the unpleasant and unpopular.”
— Bernard M. Baruch
Friday, October 5, 2007 Letter to the Editor:
Support for new
alcohol policies
I think we might be in trouble. Why, I ask
rhetorically? The answer is because the most
pressing issue amongst our students, me included, seems to be the new alcohol policy. Before I
go any further and give people the wrong idea,
I’ll stop myself because the point of this piece
isn’t to condemn the behavioral patterns of a
college student. It is, in fact, something wholly
different.
Maybe it’s just me, but I personally think
that this new alcohol policy is a step in the right
direction. The reason for this is that, simply
put, anything would have been better than the
previous one. The old one was punitive, didn’t
correct the problem and was a disaster in situations where people who were legally allowed to
drink were living with students who were not,
and alcohol was being consumed.
The new policy seems to try to prevent
another serious alcohol incident from happening again, which is, of course, the best recourse
to take in the wake of the events that took place
last spring. Sure, the policy has some cutthroat
wording and will actually be enforced, but I
think it’s by far a fairer way of doing business.
Granted, any alcohol policy is a real “buzz kill”
for the typical college student on weekends and
11
‘Maybe it’s just me, but I
personally think that this new
alcohol policy is a step in the right
direction.’
- Andrew Kaspereen
some weekdays. But in terms of a program that
really seems to be out to keep the well-being of
students intact, I’d say this is one of the better
ones.
In fact, life in the residence halls remains
largely the same. The people who are hit hardest
by it are the Greek houses, and to you Greeks, I
will say I understand your frustration. The same
standards weren’t being applied to you as were
in the regular housing areas. I will also say, with
the utmost respect to your members, it’s only
fair, not right or wrong, that you are held to the
same standards as we who live in the residence
halls are.
So what does all this mean? Just that I think
the University’s approach to alcohol has made
a drastic change for the better, especially when
concerning itself with the actual safety of the
student body rather than punitive measures.
Does it change things? Well, yes, it most certainly does; however, the policy before it was by
no means a real step in any direction and was
muddled and confusing. Will it work? I suppose
that is only an answer that time can provide.
—Andrew Kaspereen
Junior, Secondary Education
The Insider:
RAs facilitate
community building
At 7 a.m., draped in pajamas and my hair a mess, I
walk to the hall office in my
fuzzy pink slippers to finish
a night of duty. I reset the
office phone and return the
block to its rightful place. I
mosey back up the stairs to
dress and hurriedly gather my
books. On the way, one of
my residents asks me a bubbly
question, and even though it’s
early, I respond cheerfully. As
a Resident Adviser (RA), its
my mandate to see that no one
roams these halls a stranger. As a
community, we can look to the
Community Values Statement
to see which principles strive
to unite us all. On my quest
to fulfill the second mission, I
continue with my day.
I rush to appear half-decent
and half-prompt to class. The
professor asks the class about
a campus event that I received
a voicemail about earlier that
day. I instinctively resist the
temptation to blurt out the
information and instead wait
to see if anyone says anything
first. I give in and tell the professor what I know. I appear as
a Ms. Know-it-all, but that is
far from the truth.
Later, I report to a staff meeting and disclose my plans for
future programs. I discuss what
I
have
learned
about my
residents
through
living and
interactJetty
ing with
them.
Hartsky
Returning
to
my
room, I realize that it is 9:30
p.m. and I still have not touched
a smidgen of my homework. I
think to myself, I have plenty
of time, since I don’t have class
until mid-morning. However,
at this hour, plowing through
two acts of Shakespeare is not
my cup of tea. Although I am
tempted to become a hermit in
the midst of my work, I open
my door. I want my residents
to feel welcome.
I have seen many relationships nourished within my
community members. Paper
slips lie on my desk containing
interesting facts about my residents. Perusing through them,
I find that there are similar
interests and distastes among
them. Future programs will
surely incorporate these things.
Last year, I wanted my residents to see the scope of opportunities that college life offers.
More specifically, I wanted my
Moral, from p. 10
“We’ll tell your dad if we catch you.”
The fact is that we have implemented such a system. As
much as you or I may disagree with it, parental notification is
now part and parcel of any alcohol-related punishment, no matter how minor the infraction. Of course, if you’re quiet about
it, or if your Resident Advisor decides to look the other way,
nothing bad will happen, rendering the entire system ineffectual.
This week’s incident at Zeta Beta Tau proves how easily our new
system can be subverted.
So what’s to be done?
To return to my original point, your parents and my parents
had an 18-year head start on getting the right idea into our heads
before we went off to college. From birth, they had every opportunity to lead by example, to live exemplary lives in the hopes
that we might be courageous enough to do the responsible thing
in the face of peer pressure. They had the opportunity to take us
aside before we got into the car, or the bus or the plane and say,
“We know you’ll make us proud.”
What I mean to say is that by the time high school is over,
your character ought to be more or less solid. Your perspective
may broaden, and hopefully it will, but the basic way in which
you approach life’s challenges will likely not be much different
when you leave Rider than it was when you came in.
College is called “post-secondary education” because it is
designed to enrich. It is a stepping stone, a chance for young men
and women to test the waters of freedom before being saddled
with the responsibility of a family or a job. While education is a
lifelong affair, the essential development of one’s character begins
and ends at home, plain and simple.
female residents to
know that there
was more to experience, other than
social events, clubs
and organizations.
I hosted a program
that focused on the
fact that maintenance of one’s selfimage, electronicimage, networking
abilities and career
opportunities can
begin now. About
20 people attended my program,
“College Life: It’s
Photo illustration by Karly Hamburg
Your Life,” and I
Rider University’s Statement of Community Values was adopted in 2001.This
was honored with
article and photo illustration highlights one of the eight principles. This is the first
the Residence Life
column in a series that will examine whether these missions are upheld.
Program of the Year
Award. After the
nent, a part of the main.” In
program, as a newly formed way to facilitate connections.
Having better things to do short, we exist as a landscape
group of motivated, careerthan
to be chums with their of people. Everything done,
minded young women, these
neighbors,
many say that they or not done, has an effect on
residents felt a special connection with one another. They do not want to be bothered. I someone else.
Do we have tunnel vision?
had the opportunity to make a challenge this. Wouldn’t it be
nice
to
be
acquainted
enough
Or
will we accept this? What
few more faces familiar.
Programming helps to with your neighbors that if can unite us? I chose the RA
acquaint people with one you sneezed in the bathroom, position because I wanted to be
another. I use programming to the person next to you would there for my peers. The other
reinforce that no one roams these actually say, “Bless You?” If RAs on campus and I work to
halls a stranger. The commu- your hands were full, wouldn’t ensure that no one roams these
nity I live in is building itself, it be helpful if someone opened halls a stranger.
— Jetty Hartsky
and I am a mere observer and a door for you? This is what a
community
does;
it
takes
care
Kroner
Resident
Advisor
supporter. When closed doors
of
its
members
in
the
simplest
Junior,
English
mark residence halls, how does
one engineer a community? If of ways.
As John Donne, an English This is the first column in a
the goal is to build community,
poet,
wrote, “No man is an series that will take a critical
what can one do in the face
island,
entire of itself; every look at the fulfillment of the
of disunity? Be available, be
receptive and go out of your man is a piece of the conti- Community Values Statement.
The Rider News, Ridge House
2083 Lawrenceville Road, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648
Phone: (609) 896-5256
Fax: (609) 895-5696
www.theridernews.com
E-mail us at:
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[email protected]; [email protected];
[email protected]; [email protected].
12 Friday, October 5, 2007
Letter to the Editor:
Teaching English on
summer excursion
E
This past summer, while some of my friends went
on vacation and others worked to make money, I got
a chance to do both. From June 27 to July 23, I lived
in Fuzhou, China, where I helped teach Chinese children conversational English. I went with seven other
students from Rider — Jimmy Lo, Lauren Rogers,
Shareef Hardin, Mandi Magnuson-Hung, Josanne
Sampson, Richard Griffin and Ian Hoffer — and
one student from the University of Delaware, Joseph
Randall.
It was an experience I will never forget. I always
wanted to go on a study-abroad trip, and this was long
enough for me to experience another culture and short
enough for me to be ready to come back home. Dr.
Minmin Wang, adviser for the program, commented
during a pre-departure meeting that in order to understand one’s own culture, a person should be immersed
in another culture. That became clear to me during
my time in China, and I learned a lot about myself.
My mom’s side of my family is Chinese, and being
in Beijing, Fuzhou and Xia’men gave me the opportunity to explore my roots, understand the Chinese
culture and see the history that makes up a piece of
c
le
tion
2008
I visited many tourist attractions, including the
Great Wall and Tiananmen Square. I had seen pictures of these places on the Internet but to actually
be there was surreal. This was also the perfect time
of year to visit the country and capital, as China prepares to host the 2008 Olympics.
But the best part of my experience was teaching
at the summer camp in Fuzhou. We spent two weeks
teaching Chinese children, ranging in age from 8-17,
conversational English. We created lesson plans and
used English songs and games to speak English with
the kids. While it was at times challenging, it was one
of the most rewarding experiences to hear the kids say
at the end of the camp that they didn’t want to leave
and that this was the highlight of their summer.
Photo by Alexandra Samuel
I had the opportunity to work with very talented
Students who taught English in Fuzhou, China come
English and Chinese students. We taught classes with
together as the three-week program comes to end: front,
the help of Chinese assistants who helped bridge the
Alexandra Samuel and Joseph Randall; second row from
language barrier between the kids and us. The assisleft, Jane (Chinese assistant), Richard Griffin, Lauren Rogtants were more than just assistants. I hadn’t expected
ers, Mechelle and Van(Chinese assistants), Fanny (coordithat I would fly home to America with the thought of
nator), Mandi Magnuson-Hung, Shareef Hardin, Josanne
one day wanting to go back to China. I forged relaSampson and Jimmy Lo.
tionships there that leave me with a reason to return.
who I am. While some of my friends had difficul- Going to another country can change a person,
ties dealing with the different foods and the hot and and doing it as a study-abroad this summer gave me
humid weather, these were things that I was familiar the opportunity to receive credit, explore my culture
with. I really enjoyed the food in China because for and take a vacation all at once.
me it was authentic, unlike the Chinese food that we — Alexandra Samuel
have here in America.
Senior, Journalism
2008 Presidential Corner:
Obama, Romney near front of pack of ’08 contenders
With much of the nation’s focus on would be a welthe war in Iraq, it is difficult to believe comed benefit.
that the government is truly concentrat- As I am runing on the topics that directly benefit ning out of room,
us. However, with the 2008 Presidential it is important to
Election fast approaching, it is time for address one last
everyone, college students included, to topic that directly
set aside this cynical view. It is time relates to our lives Katelyn
to take a closer look at the candidates as students —
Friel
promising to make the necessary changes America’s educato strengthen our nation. At the fore- tion system. front is one of the Democratic party’s Wishing to strengthen every level of
leading candidates: Sen. Barack Obama education, Obama believes college should
be affordable and that everyone should
of Illinois.
Who is Sen. Barack Obama? Most have an equal opportunity to pursue
notably, he is a presidenhigher education. His strattial candidate. Elected into
egy to facilitate these pursuits
the U.S. Senate in 2004,
is through maximizing fedhe strongly believes in the
eral college aid by changing
promotion of responsible
the Pell Grant’s highest award
fatherhood and putting a
amount. He also strives to
stop to the growing trend
“increase need-based aid and
of government corruption.
decrease the fees and interest
Like the other Democratic
rates on student loans.” For
candidates, Sen. Obama is
all of us with tens of thouGetty Images Photo sands of dollars in student
zeroing in on matters that
Barack H. Obama
will bring national and
loans waiting for us upon
international change. He
graduation, Obama’s proposal
is against the war in Iraq and is promis- is certainly one to consider when making
ing to have a complete withdrawal of the our choice for the primary election.
troops by the end of next year. Along Whether Democrat or Republican,
with hopes to end the war, he intends conservative or liberal, these labels
to strengthen America’s waning interna- become obsolete if you do not make the
effort to get out there and learn about
tional relations and public image.
Setting international relations aside, the candidates. As American citizens, we
on the home front, Obama is making must take the reins, harnessing the powa strong push to implement a universal er that is rightfully ours. We can direct
health-care system. Nearly 50 million the changes we wish to see our nation
Americans are without health coverage. make. All it takes is to become informed
He plans to ensure that every American and, in turn, make sound, reasoned deciis eligible for health coverage, save the sions. No longer do we have the excuse
average family nearly $2,500 a year in that the information is inaccessible. Go
co-pays and “require that all children onto Sen. Obama’s MySpace page or his
have health care coverage.” Sooner rather official website, www.barackobama.com,
than later, we will be responsible for pay- and learn more about this candidate. He,
ing for hospital visits, prescriptions and along with all of the other candidates,
aging parents’ medical bills. When this have something to say. Now, it is our
happens, a universal health-care system time to listen and act.
The presidential campaign race for In addition
2008 has a lot of strong candidates, to this, Romney
each just as qualified as the next. proposes that taxPresident George Bush’s term is wind- es be reduced for
ing down and both Republican and the middle class.
Democratic hopefuls are proposing a However, this is
variety of changes. Mitt Romney, a for- more of a concept
mer Massachusetts Republican gover- than a game plan. Nadine
nor, takes a moderate approach. Instead He mentions a Tester
of a complete overhaul, Romney wants lot of topics that
to refine a strategy here and a principle students in colthere. Romney has a lot of working lege are going to have to worry about in
ideas, which he outlines in his Strategy the future: he wants medical care to be
for a Stronger America. Found online in the hands of state legislatures, as will
on his campaign website, this
plans like social security.
68-page proposal includes full
He feels that this will
color pictures and focuses on
encourage innovation.
six of his main proposals for
Federal spending at the
the 2008 election. However,
moment is putting our
this isn’t a detailed proposal,
future financial safety in
and even though his plans
jeopardy, and Romney
may be hard to accomplish,
wants to ensure us monthey have a solid foundation.
ey when we retire.
A lot of his ideas are
Romney spends a
compelling. He wants to end
lot of his time focusGetty Images Photo
the dependency on foreign
ing on social issues like
Mitt W. Romney
oil, and focus instead on
gay marriage and aborresearching alternate techtion, both of which he
nologies for energy. He also wants to is strongly against. He feels that the
amend and strengthen foreign ties, United States cannot stay a powerful
especially with Latin America. He feels country if the family at home is falling
that we’ve spent too much time abroad apart.
and that it’s time to focus on our neigh- Romney’s main focus is about
bors instead, compromising over things strength. He wants to build up the
like drug trafficking and illegal immi- military, strengthen the economy, and
gration. Romney wants to continue once again assert the power of America
America’s tradition of being a nation of in the world. He cares about the chilimmigrants, but also wants to protect dren, the stability of the traditional
family and the idea that American citithe rights of citizens.
Some of the issues which he goes zens come first in our country. Romney
into further detail about are containing has a lot of good ideas and proposals
terrorism, including nuclear terrorism. that could really help the U.S. get
He also wants to add 100,000 more out of debt and make progress in the
troops, to help strengthen the nation’s future. However, if you read his Strategy
defense. When it comes to the federal for a Stronger America, it lacks specifics.
deficit, Romney promises to review all Romney is a strong candidate, but he
of the government’s spending and make needs to show what he can really do,
some cuts.
not just talk about it.
Friday, October 5, 2007 13
Broncs on eight-game skid, winless in MAAC
VOLLEYBALL
By Andrew Nelson
The volleyball team suffered two more setbacks by losing to St. Peter’s and Fairfield,
last week, and also losing to St.
Peter’s yesterday, all conference
matchups.
The Broncs (1-15, 0-7
MAAC) lost to St. Peter’s 3-2,
and Fairfield 3-0.
Yesterday, the Broncs were
matched up in a back and
forth game with the Peahens
at home.
Rider was able to win the
first game 30-24 behind the
six kills of sophomore Brittany
Hayes. Freshman Katelyn
Thompson had three kills and
junior Lacey Johnson added
two kills.
Rider built a quick 7-2 lead
and ran into some trouble when
the game was tied at 16 a piece.
Rider then regained the lead
and did not fall behind again
the rest of the match to preserve
the victory.
After St. Peter’s took the
series lead at 2-1 with a 30-28
win in game two, and a 30-25
win in game three, Rider needed to respond in game four.
In game four, the Broncs
fell behind 5-1 early. The
Broncs fought back and were
able to take the lead for good
after being down 21-20.
The Broncs scored three
straight points courtesy of a
kill by freshman Tara Nadasky,
a service ace by freshman
Amanda Piccolini, and a kill
by Johnson. The Peahens were
unable to recover at that point
as Rider won the match 30-27
and forced a game five.
Nadasky led the Broncs
with five kills. Thompson had
four kills in the match, Hayes
had three, and Johnson had two
of her own.
In game five, the Broncs
came up short as St. Peter’s took
the game 15-13. The Broncs
were able to tie the score at
13-13, but St. Peter’s scored two
points on back-to-back kills by
freshman Monique Flores.
Rider finished the game
with more digs (136-123) and
a higher attack percentage than
the Peahens.
Johnson had 12 kills and 27
digs for the Broncs. Thompson
had 15 kills and 31 digs, and
Hayes had 19 kills to go with
nine digs.
The Broncs were in
Conneticut last Friday to take
on Fairfield (8-9, 5-1 MAAC)
who won games by 30-20,
30-22, and 30-20.
“It is a tough start, but we
are working harder everyday to
get better,” said Assistant Coach
Michelle Walsh.
According to Walsh the
team is watching game film to
analyze plays and dissect where
the game went wrong.
Standout
performances against Fairfield were by
Piccolini with 17 assists and 8
digs, Elyse Grassmuck had 13
assists, and sophomore Brittany
Hayes finished off with 11 kills.
Johnson was right behind her
with 10 kills.
Sophomore Amy Chapla,
about Fairfield, says they are a
very good team. The Stags are
in fact the three-time regular
season defending champion
“Our ball control was very
suspect,” Head Coach Emily
Ahlquist told Rider Sports
Information. “It just seemed
like we were overmatched.”
“We need to come out
ready for the game,” sophomore
Lacy Johnson says. “We need
to hustle through the whole
match, and push through the
entire game.”
The Broncs have lost eight
straight games, and lost their
first seven conference games.
Rider will try to turn things
around when they travel to New
Rochelle, N.Y. for their next
MAAC game against the Iona
Gaels tomorrow at 2 p.m.
Rider struggles at Lehigh
CROSS COUNTRY
By Eric Malave
It was an unfortunate day
for the Rider cross country
teams, as neither performed as
expected in the Brook’s Paul
Short Invitational this past
Friday at Lehigh University.
The Rider men’s team finished 38th out of 41 teams and
the Rider women placed 44th
out of 47 teams.
“We were hoping to show
up and put together a solid
performance from everyone,”
junior Matt Dahl said. “I think
we all left Lehigh on Friday
with a serious sense of disappointment.”
Finishing first for the men
was senior John Smith, who
placed 103rd out of the 268
men in the race. He completed
the 8k course with a time of
25:54.
Coming in 142nd place
was junior Matt Dahl, who
finished second for the Broncs
with a time of 26:12.
“Personally, Friday’s race
was an all right performance,”
said Dahl. “It turns out to be
the second fastest five-mile race
I’ve ever run, but I still look for
a lot more out of myself.”
Following Dahl was senior
Jeff Stead, placing 217th with
a time of 27:03. Lastly, sopho-
more Phil Capaldi completed the course with a time of
27:14.
As for the women, freshman Chelsea Callan finished
first for the Broncs. Overall, she
placed 212th out 314 women in
the race, with a time of 23:52.
Junior Kelly Wojciehowski
finished the five-mile course
with a time of 24:06, coming
in 232nd.
Crossing the finish line
right behind Wojciehowski
was junior Megan Crowe, who
placed 247th with a time of
24:21.
Crossing the finish line
last for the Broncs was sophomore Kelsey Kohler. She placed
272nd with a time of 24:52.
“I felt I ran hard, but it was
not my best performance,” said
Kohler. “I think that the hills at
the end hit me hard on Friday
and it was very hot when our
race went off.”
The Broncs entered the
competition shorthanded, as
three of their top runners—
freshman Chris Gonzalez, sophomore Bob McCullough, and
sophomore Lauren Lester—
were not healthy enough to
compete.
However, the players agreed
that this is no excuse for the
results of Friday’s competition.
Both teams faced trouble
pacing themselves in the middle
of the race. The girls did not
maintain their pace from the
start. Also, there were 30-second
gaps in between the runners.
“We just need to move
those 30-second gaps faster,”
said Wojciehowski. “We are
working hard to learn to maintain our pace during the middle
part of the race.”
Both teams know that they
can perform much better and
hope to do so in the future.
“There’s plenty of work that
can be done and we can’t let the
down performance at Lehigh
get to us,” said Dahl. “We have
to keep in mind that it’s still
very early in the season.”
Both Rider cross-country
teams have important meets in
the coming weeks.
“Next week when we go
to Penn State, hopefully we’ll
prove that and show everyone
all the hard work we’ve been
doing,” said Wojciehowski.
The next event the teams
will compete in is at the Penn
State Invitational on Friday
Oct. 12. This will be both
teams last event before the
MAAC Championships in Van
Cortland Park, N.Y. on Oct.
26.
Hopefully, both teams can
shake off this race, and get their
seasons back on track.
Photo by Hugh Tsung
Freshman Katelyn Thompson had 15 kills and 31 digs in the
Broncs 3-2 loss to St. Peter’s yesterday. Thompson had five kills,
10 digs, and four and a half points against Fairfield last Friday.
14 Friday, October 5, 2007
BRONCS’ BITS
Scores/Records (* denotes conference games)
Men’s Soccer
(5-4, 0-0 MAAC)
9/29
Rider 4, LaSalle 1
Women’s Soccer
(3-3-3, 0-0 MAAC)
9/30
Pennsylvania 2, Rider 0
Field Hockey
(5-5, 2-0 NEC)
9/28
Rider 1, Robert Morris 0*
9/30
LaSalle 2, Rider 1
Volleyball
(1-15, 0-7 MAAC)
9/28
Fairfield 3, Rider 0*
Phillies
Continued from p. 16
hopping around celebrating it’s
usually somebody other than
the Phillies.
“I think they can win the
National League,” he said. “All
of the teams have a legitimate
shot of making it, all of the
teams have good and bad things
about them, and so there is no
clear-cut favorite.”
Junior Kevin Malinowski
loved the effort that the Phillies
gave in September and shared
the same excitement with the
Philadelphia faithful when the
Phillies were finally able to
make the leap to October.
“I’m ecstatic that the team
fought real hard at the end of
the season and put a lot of pressure on the Mets,” Malinowski
said. “It was a great sight for
true baseball fans, it was a nailbiter down to the end, and it
was very exciting for it to be
the Phillies.
“Hopefully they can go all
the way,” he said. “But they
should at least make it to the
National League Championship
Series.”
Will O’Connor, a senior
on the baseball team, said the
Phillies making the playoffs
couldn’t have come at a better
time, and that the series against
the Colorado Rockies should be
a good one.
“It’s good to finally see the
Phillies make the playoffs after
so long,” O’Connor said. “It’s
nice for the city of Philadelphia
to have the Phils in the playoffs
with the Eagles struggling right
now.
“I wanted the Phils to play
the San Diego Padres instead of
the Rockies,” he said. “Colorado
is a hot team, and they, along
10/4
St. Peter’s 3, Rider 2*
Men’s Tennis
(1-4, 0-1 MAAC)
9/28
Layfayette 6, Rider 1
10/1
Marist 7, Rider 0*
10/2
LaSalle 4, Rider 3
Women’s Tennis
(0-4, 0-1 MAAC)
9/30
Manhattan 7, Rider 0*
10/3
Monmouth 6, Rider 1
Women’s Cross Country
9/28
Paul Short Invitational 44th of 47
Golf
9/22
Cornell Big-Red Invite 10th of 16
Schedule
Friday 10/5
Women’s Soccer
vs. St. Peter’s 4 p.m.*
Men’s Soccer
at Marist 7 p.m.*
...And More Sports
Men’s Cross Country
9/28
Paul Short Invitational 38th of 41
Senior Tyler Brewington of the
golf team and freshman Lauren
Musumeci of the soccer team
were named Rider Athletes of
the Month for September.
with the Phillies, swing good
bats so it should be a good
series.”
The Phillies are in an early
hole as they have dropped the
first two games of the series at
Citzens Bank Park.
The first game was the
matchup of lefty aces as Cole
Hamels lost to Jeff Francis 4-2.
The Phils’ then dropped the
second game 10-5 in a game
where both teams combined for
five home runs.
The team is down 2-0 in
the series, but fans just have
to remember last weekend if
they’ve any doubts of winning.
Attention Irresponsible
Drinkers!
Whether you are under the New Jersey legal drinking age,
find binge drinking devices desirable, or just think that being
intoxicated is an acceptable social activity --- please be
advised that under the new Rider University Alcohol Policy,
if found responsible for actions contrary to policy, there is a
mandatory alcohol education/consultation.
If YOU choose to not attend:
1st time: $200
2nd time: Hold on Account until attendance is completed (i.e.
cannot course select, participate in room selection, or request
a transcript)
How to avoid additional sanctions:
1. Choose responsible behaviors and observe Rider and
state policies
2. If you make a mistake, complete sanctions as assigned
Attention Rider Students!
The Office of Community Standards will begin
reviewing candidates for the University Community
Standards Board. All interested candidates can pick
up applications in the Student Center, Room 116.
Completed applications are due back in Room 116 by
5:00 p.m. Friday, October 12, 2007.
Members of the University Community Standards
Board convene to listen to fellow students challenge
alleged violations of the University Code of Social
Conduct. Student Board Members work with
Administration and Faculty Board Members to
make impartial decisions about responsibility and
any subsequent sanctions, if deemed appropriate.
Applicants must be in good academic and social
standing.
Freshmen are welcome to apply.
Soccer
Continued from p. 16
“Scoring the second goal
just propelled us past LaSalle
and wiped away any chance
of a comeback for them,”
Tramontana said.
Junior goalkeeper Randall
Zapolski was able to keep the
Explorers at bay with eight
saves.
Tramontana’s efforts didn’t
go unnoticed as he was selected
as MAAC co-offensive player of
the week with St. Peter’s senior
forward Juan Gaviria.
“I found out Monday when
I received a call from another
reporter congratulating me,”
Tramontana said. “I wasn’t
aware of it beforehand and was
really excited when I heard the
news.”
Freshman Andrew Cotes
was also honored by the conference as he won MAAC Rookie
of the Week for the week of
Sept. 24-30. The Rider freshmen have been in the limelight
as this is the third straight week
they have had a player selected
for the weekly honor. Freshman
Jim Bradley was selected for
the week of Sept. 10-16, and
Antonucci was selected for the
week of Sept. 17-23.
“Making the adjustment to
college soccer was pretty difficult but I just worked through
the hard times and coach gave
me the opportunity to play,”
Cotes said. “It’s been great for
Jim, Tom and myself to get the
recognition from the conference for our hard work.”
Rider seems to be getting
Field Hockey
Continued from p. 16
son, the Broncs are 2-1 in their
overtime encounters.
“We can improve on getting more shots on cage, so
that we can score more goals,
said LoCastro. “In the game
of field hockey the team needs
to work together. We’re coming closer and closer each day;
we just need to keep working
hard.”
on track after dropping its first
three games. They have won
five of their last six, including
three in a row, and are hitting their stride heading into
conference play that starts this
weekend.
The women’s team (3-3-3)
meanwhile, hit a bump in
the road Sunday against the
University of Pennsylvania
(7-2-1), getting shutout 2-0.
The Broncs were unable to get
it going against the Quakers as
they were outshot 13-3.
The Quakers first goal came
at 28:38 in the first half when
sophomore forward Jessica
Fuccello scored her sixth goal of
the season with Sarah Friedman
picking up the assist.
Things haven’t been going
well for the Broncs after their
eight game unbeaten streak was
snapped. After a double overtime stalemate with Drexel on
Sept. 14, the team has lost three
of its last four games heading
into today.
Both teams are projected
to finish better than they did
last year. The men are looking
to improve upon their 2-5-2
record in the conference last
year, and are entering conference play on a high note. The
women finished 6-8-3 last year
and are looking to finish over
.500 this year.
The men will kick off the
MAAC season on the road
tonight as they travel to Marist
to take on the Red Foxes at 7
p.m. The women will open up
their conference schedule today
at home against the St. Peter’s
Peahens (1-7) at 4 p.m.
Rider still finds themselves
in second place behind Lock
Haven in the NEC.
“Offensively we need to
step it up,” Celebre said. “We
need to shoot more on goal.
The more we shoot, the more
opportunities there are for the
forwards to put the ball in the
cage.”
Rider will continue their
NEC schedule as they travel
to Siena to take on the Saints
this Sunday.
Support the Troops!
ΦΣΣ & ΑΦΩ
Donations such as hygiene products and
travel games can be dropped off in the
boxes in BLC & SRC
until October 19th
Friday, October 5, 2007 15
Rider tennis teams continue to make progress
M/W TENNIS
By Christopher Cole
The Broncs may have lost
some matches, but their wins
were very memorable.
The men’s tennis team (1-4
overall, 0-1 MAAC) lost 6-1
against Lafayette Friday afternoon, but had No. 1 player
Casey Jedlinski’s win to keep
them hopeful.
The junior defeated
Lafayette’s Brett Kraft 6-2, 7-5.
“My first two matches this
season were a little sloppy (6-0,
6-1 and 6-2, 6-0 losses), so
I worked on staying positive
today and rallied with the support of my teammates and students cheering me on,” Jedlinski
said. “I tried my best and luckily I won.”
Jedlinski’s power game is
one that Coach Ed Torres has
described as “controlled,” which
is hard to do.
“He was facing a former
Middlesex County champion
and kept the ball under control
and was able to pull out the
win,” said Torres.
Despite losing 0-6, 7-5, and
11-13 in a tough match against
Lafayette’s Matt McGranaghan,
sophomore Will Haight won
with partner sophomore Marc
Ashed in their second-doubles
match 8-5.
The Broncs’ women’s team
(0-4 overall, 0-1 MAAC) lost to
Manhattan in a MAAC match
Sunday afternoon. Junior
Danielle Morse and sophomore
Kristina Paich won 9-8 in doubles, but the team score wound
up Manhattan 7, Rider 0.
In two three-set matches, Paich lost 1-6, 6-4, 5-10
to Casey Conklin. Freshman
Amanda Matticks lost 2-6,
6-3, 4-6 to Jasper’s Lindsay
Spagnola.
Against LaSalle, the men
lost 4-3, losing some close
matches but enjoying a hardfought victory by Jedlinski.
Jedlinski’s relentless power
game pulled him past George
Gennaoui, winning 6-4, 5-7,
6-4.
“My body was hurting, but
I was able to dig deeper than
my opponent,” said Jedlinski.
Coach Torres said he was
anticipating this victory but not
the challenge that came with it.
“I expected Jedlinski to
win, but it was a tough match,”
he said.
Suffering from an ongoing hamstring injury, freshman
Josh Rultenberg hung in there,
but lost 6-4, 5-7, 1-6 to Matt
Rivera.
“I feel bad about losing,
but Rivera’s a good player,” said
Rultenberg. “I think if I didn’t
have my injury, I would have
had a better chance to win the
match. I’m definitely going to
be taking a rest.”
Other singles matches
were won by Haight, winning
6-1, 7-5 against Eric Glick,
and freshman Chris Esposito
defeating Andrew Petrusky 5-7,
6-3, 6-2.
Haight and Ashed won 9-7
in doubles.
Esposito and senior Jim
Leone lost 9-7 after they were
up 7-4.
On Wednesday, the women
lost a non-conference showdown
with Monmouth 6-1. The team
was short-handed and they had
to forfeit one singles match and
one doubles match.
Paich delivered for Rider
early as she defeated Kaitlin
Gallagher 6-4, 2-6, and 10-2 in
the tie breaker.
Due to a scheduling conflict, the men and women team’s
non-conference match at noon
on Sunday against St. Francis
(NY) will be played at Rider
instead of in New York.
Photo by Karly Hamburg
Junior Casey Jedlinski was strong this past week picking up two
wins. He defeated Layfayette’s Brett Kraft 6-2 and 7-5 and also
beat LaSalle’s George Gennaoui in three sets 6-4, 5-7, and 6-4.
Unity Days
2007
“Many Cultures, One Student Body”
Tuesday, October 9
7:00 - 8:30 p.m., BLC Patio
Unity Day Keynote Speaker
Dr. Melissa Harris-Lacewell
(Caribbean and Latin Music)
Wednesday, October 10
Wednesday, cont.
3:30 - 5:00 p.m., MCC Room
New Mexico & Turkey
Multicultural Photo Display
Michele Lupowitz, Rider alumna, class
of 1970
1:15 - 2:15 p.m., Fireside Lounge
Midnight Run to NYC
Community Service
Dale Williams, Executive Director
5:00 - 7:00 p.m., Cavalla Room
Cultural Explosion
Dance performance
SEC Multicultural Food Fest
2:30 - 3:30 p.m., Fireside Lounge
Life After College
Career Workshop
RJ Wicks
7:00 - 8:30 p.m., Fireside Lounge
Campus Hate Crimes:
Osama Sabbah & Faris Khader of Guilford College
Dr. Melissa Harris-Lacewell
16 Friday, October 5, 2007
On The Rise
Broncs in
second in
the NEC
Charles Guthrie
FIELD HOCKEY
By Kristie Kahl
The field hockey team
overtook another Northeast
Conference (NEC) team in a
shutout before losing to LaSalle
in double overtime to wind up
with a .500 record.
Senior goalie Jen LoCastro
earned her first career shutout,
making six saves, as the Broncs
(5-5, 2-0 NEC) beat Robert
Morris (2-8, 0-3 NEC) 1-0 last
Friday.
Photo by Peter G. Borg
“It was an awesome feeling to get my first shutout,” Senior Stephanie Walker had two shots on goal in the Broncs’ 2-1 loss to LaSalle last Sunday. The
LoCastro said. “Everyone has team travels to Siena on Sunday at 1 p.m. to take on the Saints in an NEC showdown.
been working so hard, espe“We needed to beat Robert a good thing, but it isn’t the we’ve played them in the past
cially the defense. I wouldn’t
have been able to do it without Morris to keep ourselves on worst either. There’s plenty of years that I have been here, so
to lose was very upsetting. We
them. I think we all deserved top in the conference,” said room for improvement.”
LaSalle
scored
at
the
14
LoCastro.
“It
wasn’t
a
strong
did fight to tie the game and
it.”
Freshman Lindsay Rajeski win because we only won by minute mark, but Celebre take it into overtime. It hurts
responded with her third goal to lose after playing so hard for
scored her second goal of the one, but a win is a win.”
of the season with less than over 95 minutes of hockey.”
The
team
has
beaten
season in the 20th minute off
six minutes left in regulation
Robert
Morris
5-0
in
the
past,
LaSalle out shot Rider 18-7
of a pass from senior Stephanie
Walker, giving Rider the win in but came up short in points this play, forcing the teams into and LoCastro made 11 saves,
overtime.
including four in overtime.
its first conference match of the time around.
“It
was
nice
to
win
against
“It
felt
good
to
tie
“It was disappointing,”
season.
“A major strength the team Robert Morris since it was a since individual players worked Celebre said. “We know we are
can take away from that game conference game but we played so hard during the game that it a better team but offensively
is that we can shutout a team, down to their level,” said junior gave us more confidence to try we need to score more. All the
to score again,” said Celebre.
teams we play are very talented
no matter who it is, if we are forward Diana Celebre.
After improving their conIn the second overtime and just scoring one goal durall willing to pull together and
play for the whole 70 minutes,” ference record, Rider fell to period, LaSalle’s Kara Harpel ing the game isn’t going to
.500 10 games into the season scored with four minutes left to always help to win.”
LoCastro said.
end the game.
Thus far in the 2007 seaRider outshot Robert with a 2-1 loss to LaSalle.
“We
are
so
much
bet“We
were
disappointed
to
Morris 7-6 as the Broncs had
only one penalty corner to the ter than our record shows,” lose that game,” said LoCastro.
LoCastro said. “Being .500 isn’t “We’ve beat them every time See Field Hockey, p. 14
Colonials’ 10.
first goal of the game off of an
assist from Tomasso at 3:27.
Junior Anthony Gilburt scored
his first goal of the season seven
minutes later to put the Broncs
up by two in the first half.
“I think that getting the
first goal is very important,”
Tramontana said. “Once I
scored I knew it was time to
work hard to keep that lead and
build on it.”
That turned out to be all
Rider needed, but they didn’t
stop there. Freshman Tom
Antonucci scored his second
goal of the season 45:41 into
the game to put Rider up 3-0.
Tramontana later added his
second tally of the game and
fourth of the season at 73:57
with the assist going to junior
Colin Jennings.
For the first time in 13
years, Philadelphia fans are
concentrated on the Phillies
in October and not the
Eagles.
Black and green jerseys
with names such as McNabb,
Westbrook and Owens (just
kidding), have been replaced
with red pinstriped buttondown jerseys bearing names
such as Howard, Utley and
Rollins.
With the New York
Mets’ historic collapse, the
Phillies were able to win the
National League East divisional crown,and clinch their
first playoff berth since the
magical 1993 season.
The Rider campus is
filled with Phillies fans that
are all excited about the team’s
recent success and say their
team has a shot at making it
to the World Series.
“It’s been a really, really
long time since they have
made it,” junior Steve
Bitterman said. “I’ve been
a Philly fan my whole life
and it’s nice to have something different happen than
what you’re used to when you
watch this team for so long.
“I feel like they can win
the NL, not too sure about the
World Series,” he said. “Their
bullpen is a little shaky, but
they have one of the best lineups in the National League
and I think they can carry
the team. It’s part of being
a Philly fan, when one team
does make the step that others couldn’t, you feel like they
can do it.”
Senior Mike Sculli was
elated, to say the least, when
the Phillies clinched last
Sunday and said they have
just as good of a shot to
win the pennant as the other
National League teams.
“I cried, it’s one of the
greatest comebacks in major
league history,” Sculli said.
“I haven’t seen the Phillies
in the playoffs in 13 years.
Whenever you see a team
See Soccer, p. 14
See Phillies, p. 14
Men handle LaSalle, women lose to Penn
M/W SOCCER
By Charles Guthrie
Photo by Hugh Tsung
Junior Leslie Ambster and the Broncs were only able to manage
three shots in their loss to the University of Pennsylvania on
Sunday.The team begins MAAC play this weekend.
Both Rider soccer teams
wrapped up non-conference
play this weekend as they now
prepare for the all-important
MAAC season.
The men’s team (5-4)
put on a show for the home
crowd against LaSalle (2-5-1)
last Saturday, beating the
Explorers 4-1. Sophomore Nico
Tramontana scored two goals
on three shots and senior Lee
Tomasso had two assists during
the Broncs charge.
“Everything we did on the
field went right,” Head Coach
Russ Fager said. “We were able
to score three beautiful goals on
set pieces and another nice one
by the two freshmen.”
Rider was rolling early
when Tramontana scored his
Red
October