By Francis A. Wilson

Now don’tget mewrong –

Christmas is awonderful timeof the year. I justhate this particu-lar time of the year.The freaking snow isa pain, the damn car-olers are annoying ashell, and that jolly old

Saint Nick never seems to get myletters.

Christmas used to be a wonder-ful time, a time when a kid couldget all of the outrageous toys heor she wanted, and mommy anddaddy could break their backs toget all of the goods for the un-grateful little ankle biters, but nomore.

This holiday now stands forconsumerism, and not the goodkind of moderate consumerism

By Monir Khilla

Starting January 2012 NewJersey City University(NJCU) will be offering

their first doctorate programwithin the Professional Securi-ties Department. The new de-gree is a Doctorate of Science inCivil Security in Leadership,Management, and Policy.

Dr. Tsung Y. (Bill) Soo Hoo,Associate Professor and formerdepartment chair, as well as Dr.John Collins, Acting DepartmentChair and Professor, spoke withthe Gothic Times about how thedepartment has evolved from aretail security subprogram in2002 to NJCU’s ProfessionalSecurities Department in 2007.

Dr. Soo Hoo said that “Our de-partment has grown to the pointwhere we have close to 500 ma-jors, compared to when I firstcame here in January 2002where we had only one personthat was a National Securitiesmajor. We will be offeringclasses in the doctorate programbeginning in July and alreadyhave a wait-list of close to 300

students, including some adjunctfaculty, as well.”

The new Doctorate Of Sciencewill make NJCU’s National Se-curity Studies program the firstin the state. NJCU will be one ofa handful of schools in the entirecountry to be offering this doc-torate.

Despite major cuts in state aidto college universities, Dr.Collins stated that “The newprogram is meant to be self-con-tained and self-sufficient so wedon’t have any budget issuescoming up. We knew we weren’tgoing to get a lot of help fromthe state, so we needed some-

thing that was self-sustaining sostudents can see that it wouldn’tbe taking any money from theirprograms.”

According to Dr. Collins andDr. Soo Hoo, what makesNJCU’s National Security Stud-ies program unique is its focus onleadership, management, and pol-icy. Every university offering thesame program or degree focusprimarily on the science and tech-nology aspects of security.

Dr. Collins further said that “Ifwe have good enrollment, wewould actually be giving moneyback to the school.”

With a wait-list of 300 studentsand the program only offering amaximum of 35 spots, competi-tion to get into the program willbe tough.

Dr. Collins said “We had tothink this all through. The selec-tion will be based on GPA andthey must have at least ten yearsof experience in security.”

The department focuses onthree main aspects of security:national security, corporate se-curity, and information secu-

Volume XXII, Issue 4 www.gothictimes.net December 7, 2011

The Official Student Newspaper of New Jersey City University

Class Cuts, Protests andTensions Arise at NJCUUnion Fires Back at Administration

News 2-4

Union fires back at administration Students Unite and be heardStudent Council approves $30KTune in to WGKR RadioGive a Chance sponsors ESL programStudy abroad contribution raises concernsAward-winning Journalist at NJCUGifts from the heart: helping families

Lifestyle 5

Hot spots for New Year’s Eve Representing your rootsRetail heeling!

Arts & Entertainment 6-7

Theatre ReviewsBook Review

Video Games Reviewed

Features 8

Frat strikes the right chordJan Auilos, SGO VP of Public InformationRooms are alive with the sound of music

Opinion / Advice 9-10

Let the beat STOP!The American nightmareDear SantaStudent protests only the tip of the icebergUrban City meets Urban ClassToss out the cheat sheets!

Sports 12

Women’s BasketballCoach of the Year Rob BielanWalter Avans

In this issue of The Gothic Times…

By Monir Khilla

The Fall 2011 semester hasbeen a turbulent semesterfor the New Jersey City

University (NJCU) community.There was an informational pick-eting held November 14th onJohn F. Kennedy Blvd. that, forthe first time, brought together allthree NJCU unions: AFT Local1839, CWA Local 1031, andIFPTE Local 195.

The picketing was in responseto class cuts by the administrationand funding cuts by the state. Stu-dents and Union members alsoexpressed concerns over tuitionincreases.

Dr. William Calathes, Execu-tive Vice President of Local 1839and Professor of Criminal Justicesaid that “This informationalPicketing was an unprecedenteddisplay of the NJCU community.It brought together over 400 stu-dents, as well as members fromthe three campus-wide unions.”

On the importance of the pick-eting, Dr. Calathes stated that“This informational picketing iscritical because in wake of con-tinued State defunding and non-support from the administration,the NJCU community is stepping

up to have its voices heard.”Malcolm Eddington, 22, Na-

tional Security Studies majorfrom Jersey City said “I’m here tosupport AFT Local 1839 and toput the administration on noticethat raising tuition isn’t the way

to solve any problems.”When asked what message he

would send to Trenton, Edding-ton said “When it comes to edu-cation, stop the shenanigans.”

Other students expressed simi-lar views.

Sean Wilson, 22, Criminal Jus-tice major from Jersey City said“I’m here to protest for studentsand faculty over budget cuts.Both have been affected by thesecuts.”

Wilson believes that “There

should be equality for studentsand faculty,” and that he supportsthe informational picketing be-cause, “We need to bring aware-ness so students can cometogether and fight the commoncause that affects us students andfaculty.”

Wilson also said that if he hadone message to send to Trenton itwould be to “Step in the shoes ofa working-class student whocan’t afford an education. They

Photo by Jersey Journal © used with permission

Unions and students picketing on Kennedy Boulevard.

Continued on page 11

“This informationalpicketing was an un-precedented display ofthe NJCU community.It brought togetherover 400 students, aswell as members fromthe three campus-wideunions.”

Dr. William Calathes, Executive Vice President,

Local 1839 and

Professor of Criminal Justice

NJCU’s first Doctorate: One of a kindAN OPPOSING VIEW

Christmas? Bah humbug!

nsa.gov

Seal of National SecurityAgency

Continued on page 11

Continued on page 11

123RF.com

www.gothictimes.net

By Monir Khilla

In an exclusive interview withthe Gothic Times, AFT Local1839 executive members - theunion that represents faculty andstaff - responded to commentsmade by Aaron Aska, Vice Presi-dent of Administration and Fi-nance, in the November issue ofthe Gothic Times.

According to Dr. Ivan Stein-berg, Professor of Economics andPresident of AFT Local 1839, theremarks were erroneous and they“violated the spirit of an agree-ment that took place years ago bythe council of New Jersey statecollege locals and representativesof state colleges. Our Vice Presi-dent [of administration and fi-nance] has broken this long-termunwritten agreement.”

Dr. William Calathes, Professorof Criminal Justice and Vice Pres-ident of AFT Local 1839 said that“Vice President Aska, in a way inhis comments, is doing somethingmassively unethical. He’s attack-ing collective bargaining rights;by him taking a position publiclyhe’s undermining the credibilityof the current negotiations by sug-gesting the mechanisms for thesenegotiations are something thatwill no longer exist. He’s sellingfaculty and students down theriver by suggesting it would bebetter to have a break-up of theUnions.”

“That is utterly incorrect,” Askasaid, responding to Steinberg’sCalathes’ charges, “nothing I saidhas a bearing on collective bar-gaining. “We did say salaries are

negotiated, that is factual. My in-terview was with a student whowas trying to understand thebudget process.”

In a now-controversial inter-view with the Gothic Times, pub-lished November 16, 2011, Askasaid, “Salary costs compromiseapproximately two-thirds of thetotal budget. In the contract thatthe union negotiated they havebuilt in increases. This has noth-ing to do with the university, the

state negotiated that with theunion. They are localizing thosecontracts, but we’re not there yet.So our contracts are not differentthan Montclair or Kean. They’reall a product of collective bar-gaining.”

Dr. Steinberg and Calathes bothagreed that “Vice President Askashould apologize to every mem-ber of the union for his com-ments.”

“I don’t think I said anythingthat merits an apology,” Aska said.

“I met with Ivan Steinberg for halfan hour last week, none of thiscame up. He expressed concerns,in general, but nothing specific.”

With questions, proposals, andcuts to education, why cant’ theschool can’t negotiate with theunions directly?

Dr. Steinberg explained that thiswould put many schools at a dis-advantage because some don’thave a large student body. Thesmaller schools would not be ableto attract professors and therewould be a bidding-war if col-leges would pick individualsalaries. Professors in certain de-partments would make more thanothers.

The budget strain NJCU is fac-ing has raised questions over howthe budget is handled and howmoney is being allocated and ap-propriated.

“The Union has serious con-cerns regarding the administra-tion’s mismanagement of thebudget. There’s no accounting ofthe revenue losses that are goingto take place as a result of the up-coming cuts in the Winter inters-ession, Spring, and Summerclasses,” said Dr. Calathes.

“There was a precipitous dropin enrollment which affected rev-enue. The mistake they made was‘next year will be better,’” said Dr.Steinberg.

Many students have gottenword of cuts to their classes, andsome students have even beendropped from classes they’re al-ready enrolled in. There will becuts to classes and sections, butnone to the administration.

“One of my concerns is that ifyou combine sections, many stu-dents who schedule their classesaround work will end up droppingthe class and prolong their gradu-ation,” said Dr. Gordon, Professorand Chairperson of the HealthSciences Department.

According to Dr. Calathes, “Idon’t see any cuts in anything inthe administration. If I was a stu-dent I’d be upset over not beingnotified until the end of the se-mester, especially after there areclasses being cut that students arealready enrolled in, the adminis-tration is not participating in thisshared sacrifice. The faculty heretook the hit on the furloughs. Wehad to have mandated furloughswhile the administration hadmuch less. They refuse to sit-down with us and talk about theshared sacrifice.”

Dr. Gail Gordon added that“The CWA, the lowest paid union,had to take ten days of furloughs itwas ridiculous.”

Dr. Calathes went on saying“Have the administrators given uptheir courses? It not only hurts stu-dents when you cut courses butyou take advantage of the mostexploited group on this campus,

adjunct professors, who are un-derpaid and contribute financiallyto the school.”

Vice President Aska also en-couraged students to call andlobby their state legislatures, butaccording to Dr. Calathes, the ad-ministration has done nothing tohelp students and unions.

“AFT folks have been down inTrenton all summer long, alongwith students, I didn’t even seeone administrator there. The stu-dents have a right to know whatthe administration has done intheir relationship to the state tolobby and advocate for this cam-pus,” said Calathes. “Have the ad-ministrators given up theircourses? It not only hurts studentswhen you cut courses but you takeadvantage of the most exploitedgroup on this campus, adjunctprofessors, who are underpaid andcontribute financially to theschool,” said Dr. Calathes.

Through all the tension and ex-changed words, the union doesagree that there have to be talkswith the administration, as well asstudents.

Dr. Calathes said that “The stu-dents, the unions, and the admin-istration should work together.There shouldn’t be a hierarchywhere somebody says we have tohave tuition raises and cut coursesand pretend the chairs are cuttingcourses. We took the union andstudent position that nobodyshould cut a course unless they’retold to do so. Maybe they’ve beendoing the best they can, but weneed them to work with theunions.”

Page 2 The Gothic Times December 7, 2011

NEWS

By Atilla Amazi

Students leaders represent-ing numerous public uni-versities convened at

Rutgers-Newark for a New Jer-sey United Students meeting.The organization approved a pro-bationary constitution and dis-cussed ways of mobilizingstudents throughout the state.

According to the organization’sFacebook page, their missionstatement reads: “As studentleaders we work to educate, ad-vocate, and empower studentsboth within our universities andcommunities. In solidarity withall struggling public institutions,we the past, present and futurestudents of New Jersey unite!”

NJUS is a coalition of publicstate colleges and universities, aswell as community colleges,which advocate the interests ofstudents for higher education.Currently, no organization like itexists in which the voices of allthe state school students are inte-grated into a single discourse thataims to create a united front forstudent education improvementand is represented by students.

Cabo Granato, 26, a PoliticalScience major of Rutgers,Newark and interim co-chair ofNJUS said some of the focalgoals of the coalition are to slashtuition hikes, increase fundingfor higher education, and createa student proposed higher educa-tion council.

Granato added, “[We] want toenact change today to improve

the state of higher education forstudents tomorrow.”

John Aspray, interim co-chair,an alumnus of the NewBrunswick campus of Rutgers,and one of the founding mem-bers of the organization said,“When [I] and some of my col-leagues at Rutgers [NewBrunswick] set out to foundNJUS, we envisioned an organi-zation that can effectively advo-cate for students in Trenton, aswell as mobilize students for ac-tions on our local campuses tohold our University administra-tions accountable. So far, I thinkwe’ve been doing well in ap-proaching that vision.

“On April 13th, 2011, we hadour first big action, which was astatewide “Day of Action”around education on 8 campuses.In New Brunswick we had a 600-person Walk Out; at Rowan,Teach-in and petition drivewhere 10 percent of the schoolsigned on to freeze tuition; atRutgers Newark, a legislativephone bank to call legislators inTrenton.”

The most imminent of all of theagendas was the review, evalua-tion, and vote on the adoption ofthe NJUS constitution. Althougha composed draft of the constitu-tion has been available sinceJune, most campus representa-tives examined it for the firsttime.

It was emphatically stressedthat the constitution was tempo-rary and would be voted on againin an upcoming meeting. This

appeased some concerns thatthere were only five campusesbeing represented in the sum-mit—all three of Rutgers cam-puses, Montclair, andNJCU—out of the 12 public col-leges and universities and 18community colleges of the state.

The Constitutional draft waswritten by Brian Block fromTCNJ, and Laura Hahn fromRamapo. From preamble to thefinal article, consisting of eight intotal, the thoroughly composeddocument covered all bases.

All five present campuses, outof the 16 total currently partici-pating, voted unanimously toadopt the probationary constitu-tion.

Following the approval of theconstitution, the attention wasthen turned to electing executiveofficials to carry out varioustasks for the organization. Of the11 possible positions available,the New Brunswick campus ofRutgers held most with four.

Our campus was represented byRafal Rogoza, 25, Political Sci-ence major of Jersey City and JanArguilos, 24, Media Arts & Po-litical Science major of Seacau-cus.

Last order of business wasplanning for upcoming initiativessuch as outreach programs to en-courage and widen the level ofparticipation as well as the next“Day of Action.”

Aspray said the associationshould look to partner withteacher’s unions and progressiveeducation unions alike, using the

success of the Rutgers One coali-tion in New Brunswick as an ex-ample.

A testament to student actionmaking impact is evident fromlast April’s “Walk into Action”where students walked out ofclasses in the support of lower tu-ition prices.

Rutgers One also organized asit-in where students occupiedRutgers President Richard L.McCormick’s office with eightdemands, including a demand forno tuition increase. The sit-in putpressure on the Board of Gover-nors, which resulted in a tuitionincrease to be cut in half, Aspraysaid.

The goal for NJUS is to create asimilar coalition that representsall colleges and universitiesstatewide. Student unity and ac-tion has proven to be successful,Granato said.

“I believe that, when it comesdown to it, people really do careabout the quality and availabilityof higher education in New Jer-sey. There are currently over400,000 students enrolled in in-

stitutions of higher educationacross New Jersey.” Asprayadded, “And these institutions,which serve a substantial portionof the state, are in crisis. NewJersey is 50th in the nation forfunding higher education. We’relast.”

When asked why anyoneshould participate in NJUS, As-pray replied, “Students can’t af-ford to not work with otherstudents from universities acrossthe state. There’s a crisis of lead-ership among politicians in NewJersey, and simply put, theyhaven’t made education the pri-ority it should be. They’ve failedto invest in the future of theState. We want to help showthem that this is an error. And Ithink that if we can make someof the right arguments and showwe can fund our schools, they’llpay attention. Having a lot ofpissed off students standing be-hind us doesn’t hurt, either.”

Students Unite and Be Heard!

Union Fires Back at Administration Over Remarks

AFT.org

“[His remarks] vio-lated the spirit of anagreement that tookplace years ago bythe council of NewJersey state collegelocals and represen-tatives of state col-leges.”

Dr. Ivan Steinberg

President of AFT Local 1839

“Students can’t af-ford to not work withother students fromuniversities across thestate. There’s a crisisof leadership amongpoliticians in NewJersey, and simplyput, they haven’tmade education thepriority it should be.”

John Aspray, co-chair,

New Jersey United Students

Photo by NJUS

By Monir Khilla

New Jersey City Univer-sity‘s Gothic KnightRadio Station recently re-

ceived funding in order to beginbroadcasting to the campus com-munity. Justin Browning, 20,Media Arts major from Sayre-ville became the newly-electedGeneral Manager of WGKR andtalked about what the money ismeant to be used for.

Browning said that “WGKR re-ceived a $4,000 budget fromSGO this semester. This moneywill be used for updating allequipment possible as well asgive us the ability to get anythingneeded for future events wewould like to throw.”

Many familiar shows will be re-turning to WGKR, with the addi-tion of new ones as well.Browning noted that “As of rightnow we have three returningshows titled ‘Happy Hour,’ a rockshow, ‘Know Homo,’ and‘Speech LOUD Radio,’ a hip hopshow. We look to add on at leastthree new shows for the upcom-

ing semesters.”Money alone won’t keep the

radio station running, but supportfrom students and listeners willhelp keep WGKR operating. “Inorder to be a part of WGKR a stu-dent would need the ambitionand willingness to learn how todo any job the station needs andthey are interested in doing,” saidBrowning.

Listeners can listen and call-inat 201-200-3556. Once up andfully running students can listenat live365.com/profiles/wgkr orview the show by going to us-tream.tv/user/wgkrnj.

December 7, 2011 The Gothic Times Page 3

NEWS

By Rafal Rogoza

Student Council approved atransfer of $30,000 to theStudent Government Exec-

utive Board during the November14 student council meeting. Thetransfer of funds angered somemembers of the student councilwho claim the Executive Board isspending money recklessly ontrips that do not benefit the stu-dent body as a whole.

“I do not think the SGO (Stu-dent Government Organization)is responsible in spending ourmoney. They are supposed tohelp create programs and work-shops for the general studentbody, instead they have spent themoney on other unnecessary ex-penses,” said Brian Flores, 21,business marketing major fromRidgefield Park and treasurer ofthe Model UN Club.

The additional $30,000 is

needed for the Executive Boardto provide basic services such assupplies and food for studentgovernment events. The Execu-tive Board requested approval ofthe transfer after exhausting mostof its $77,000 budget. A majorityof the money was spent on a stu-dent council summer retreat inthe Poconos, a leadership confer-ence in Miami, and a controver-sial donation to the India studyabroad trip.

According to Aurora Estevez,SGO VP of Finance, the $30,000won’t be spent in its entirety.

“The $30,000 is not somethingwe’re going to spend. I didn’twant to have to keep going to thefinance committee and keep ask-ing for money when we need it,”said Estevez.

The student council over-whelmingly voted in favor of thetransfers with 27 council mem-bers voting for it, four against,

and one abstaining. According toEstevez, the additional moneywill be taken out of the SGO con-tingency fund which has a sur-plus of money.

Increased student enrollmentand an insurance settlement fromthe Moody court case increasedrevenue by $196,000. All stu-dents contribute to the budgetwhen they pay their student ac-

tivities fee.“I trust the Executive Board,

they are our elected representa-tives. They’re looking out for thestudent body’s best interest,” saidFrank Fernandez, 29, environ-mental science major and GeoClub President from Jersey Citywho voted in favor of the motion.

Samantha Nunez, 21, historymajor and President of the SalsaClub from Jersey City also sup-ported the motion.

“The clubs need the money,they (Executive Board) weretelling us they only had $4,000.We need money for open houseand other events like club day,”said Nunez.

Estevez feels the complaints bysome council members are base-less because they haven’t at-tended finance committeemeetings.

“They don’t do anything andthat’s what gets me mad. If you

have all this energy to complainthen have that energy to workwith us and do something aboutit,” said Estevez.

Sean Wilson, 22, criminal jus-tice major and President of theFree Thinkers Society from Jer-sey City, voted against the motionand believes that finance commit-tee meetings need to encouragemore debate.

“I find them to be lacking intransparency. Most votes arepushed through with very littlecomment from dissenting pointsof view,” said Wilson.

Flores expressed similar views,“As a treasurer for GK Films lastsemester, I attended these meet-ings to understand and learn howour money is spent.I have also at-tended meetings this semester,but it is disheartening seeing othertreasurers who do not care aboutthe issues and only attend becausethe meeting is mandatory.”

Student Council approves $30K to depleted E-Board budget

Tune in to campus

By Rafal Rogoza

The Samuel Guzman Give a ChanceFoundation hosted a fundraiser forimpoverished schools at

O’Abbey’s Pub & Grill on November 19.All donations will help fund an ESL pro-gram in El Salvador.

“Our main goal is to open a vocationalworkshop school in my dad’s hometown,”said Sheny Guzman, 22, international busi-ness major from Jersey City. “We’re tryingto start small and build a track record ofwhat we do by sponsoring schools inpoverty with ESL programs.”

All the proceeds collected by the Foun-dation are going to fund English classes inthe Instituto Nacional General Juan Or-lando Zepeda, a vocational school teach-ing nursing and accounting.

The Foundation coordinated with theUniversidad Monsenor Romero in El Sal-vador to make this project possible. Withthe addition of English lessons into the cur-riculum students would be able to apply forwork abroad and in El Salvador, accordingto Sheny.

“We’ll assist the nursing students to fly

to Canada and work in orphanages andnursing homes. The accounting students onthe other hand, there are more than 500 po-sitions available in call centers in El Sal-vador, once they speak the language(English) we’re going to assist them withsecure job placement in these call centers,”said Sheny.

The ESL program will be available for

two years, 10 months a year and will teach325 students. The funds will cover instruc-tor and administrative costs.

Sheny decided to create the Foundationafter a conversation with a pastor on a tripback from Miami this summer. After brain-storming with her peers in El Salvador shedecided on the ESL program.

Sheny’s tenacity and dedication is de-

rived from her father who overcame ex-treme poverty and became a successful en-trepreneur.

“Everything I do in my life is dedicated tohim and his honor to make him proud,” re-marked Sheny.

The fundraiser featured a ticket raffle ofprizes, a billiard tournament, music anddrinks. Current and former NJCU studentscame out for the event to show their support.

“It sounds like a good project, especiallyin a place like El Salvador, that’s why I’mhere to lend some support,” said Alex Mor-eira, 25, criminal justice major fromRutherford.

“She wants to educate people. She wantsto help people get a job to make money andput food on the table,” said Frank GuzmanJr., 25, history and secondary educationmajor from Jersey City.

The Foundation will be organizing vari-ous local fundraisers in the upcomingmonths.

For more information about donating andvolunteering contact Sheny Guzman atgiveachance.sgg@gmail.com and alsocheck out the Foundation’s facebook page,www.facebook.com/groups/ giveachance.

Give a Chance Foundation sponsors ESL program

SGO Revenue and Expenses for 2011-12

Courtesy of WGKR

“They are supposedto help create pro-grams and workshopsfor the general stu-dent body, insteadthey have spent themoney on other un-necessary expenses.”

Brian Flores,

Business Marketing major

Photo by Sheny Guzman

Students in class at Instituto Nacional General Juan orlando Zepeda, El Salvador.

All data are estimates provided by SGO VP of Finance

SGO REVENUERevenue from Student Activity Fees $650,000 Additional Revenue from Increased Enrollment $136,000 Insurance Settlement from Moody Case $160,000

Total SGO Revenue $946,000

SGO EXPENSES

SGO Revenue $946,000

NJCU Athletics -$234,000

Gothic Times -$50,000

SGO Advisor's Salary -$79,000

Tuition Compensation -$63,000

Auditor -$54,000

All Class Organizations & Clubs -$230,000

Additional Funds Allocated to SGO E-Board -$30,000

Balance $206,000

Revenue from Student Activity

Fees

$650,000

Additional Revenue from

Increased Enrollment$136,000

Insurance Settlement

from Moody Case

$160,000

NJCU Athletics$234,000

Gothic Times

$50,000

SGOAdvisor’s

Salary$79,000

Tuition Compensation

$63,000

Auditor

$54,000

Alll class organizations

& Clubs$230,000

BALANCE

$206,000

Additional Funds

Allocated to SGO E-Board

$30,000

WGKR RADIo

Page 4 The Gothic Times December 7, 2011

NEWS

By Rafal Rogoza

SGO Executive Board do-nation of $27,500 to Indiastudy abroad trip in mid

September raises conflict of in-terest concerns among StudentCouncil members as two Execu-tive Board members are attend-ing the trip. The donation alsoincludes a previously undis-closed scholarship award to at-tending students.

“The selection process bywhich applicants were chosen isof the greatest concern to meand many others,” said SeanWilson, 22, criminal justicemajor and President of FreeThinkers Society from JerseyCity. “I brought up the supposi-tion of this being a moral ques-tion in part due to the fact thattwo members of the e-board arein attendance for this trip, in-cluding the son of VP of Stu-dent Affairs Dr. Melendez,furthermore, other qualified per-sons had higher GPA’s and abetter benefit of attending thistrip.”

According to Joanne Bruno,VP of Academic Affairs, the se-lection process was fair and ob-jective as the 17 studentsselected all received high ap-proval scores from the selectioncommittee. All five SGO Exec-utive Board members appliedfor the trip with two being se-lected based on the selectioncommittee’s evaluation, a totalof 43 students applied.

Vice President Bruno referredall additional inquiries aboutconflict of interest to the StudentGovernment Organization. “It’smy understanding of SGO thatthey have their own policies thatcontrol a conflict of interest sit-uation.”

“We all feel, at the end of the,day we’re all students. We allapplied [and] two got in. Theissue is students are upset wedonated to the trip, but we ex-tended the deadline and loweredthe cost,” answered Mack Do,SGO VP of Activities whenasked about the conflict of in-terest accusations.

“We donated $27,500 to the

India trip and we did that be-cause we knew we had moneyin the contingency fund,” saidAurora Estevez, SGO VP of Fi-nance.

According to Estevez, the de-cision was made in part to lowercosts of the trip for students andto allow more students to attend.

“If I can’t afford school andI’m struggling to pay for mykid’s diapers I’m not going toapply for a trip that’s $1,000,”said Estevez.

The donation lowered the stu-dent cost from $1,000 to $500and increased the number of stu-dents attending the trip from 10to 17, according to Dr. Melen-dez VP of Student Affairs.

However, a review of theamount donated to the trip de-termined that only $20,000 wastransferred.

When asked how the remain-ing $7,500 was going to bespent Melendez responded thatthe money will be reimbursed tothe students attending the tripafter they return.

“The foundation will use themoney to reimburse the studentsas a scholarship for representingthe University in India,” saidMelendez.

When asked why during theapplication process the studentbody wasn’t informed that ascholarship award was includedin the trip Melendez answered,“It was my judgment not to saythat money was guaranteed. Ididn’t feel comfortable sayingthat at the time, the fact is themoney is not here. SGO may de-cide we’ll leave it at $20,000.”

According to Estevez, themoney donated came from theExecutive Board’s budget anddid not need the Student Coun-cil’s vote of approval.

“We needed to make that deci-sion right away so we took itfrom our e-board budget,” saidEstevez who mentioned that theExecutive Board did not havetime to ask the Student Councilto vote on the donation becausethe application deadline for thetrip was the day of the first Stu-dent Council meeting.

The large sum donated didforce the Executive Board to askthe Student Council for an addi-tion $30,000 to be added to theirbudget.

“These inquiries of conflict ofinterest became a real problemafter most SGO members hadrealized that we had been bam-boozled by the e-board whenthey had sent a vote throughcouncil for a $30,000 bail out;as a result, we began to askmore questions about earlierhandlings as well as future onestoo,” said Wilson.

“We’re student leaders sowe’re going to be scrutinizedanyway, such accusations areunfair because we’re students aswell,” said Do.

Study abroad donation raises conflict of interest concerns

By Allison Lozada

The 16th Annual Gifts from theHeart Project was held on theNJCU campus from November to

December. Sergio G Villamizar andArnold Jeter of the athletics department,Co-Chair of the counseling centerAbisola Gallagher, Co-Chair of financialaid Pat Albers, Theresa Guerriere of A.Harry Moore School, and Juanita Ran-dall of library services all came togetherto join the cause.

Their goal was to help raise new ornearly new clothes and toys to familiesin Jersey City. This project is a commu-nity service program that started in 1995and has joined with other non-profit Jer-

sey City organizations who also focuson helping those in need whether it isshelter, food, or guidance. The organi-zations are Let’s Celebrate and WomenRising.

G.T: How much was donated?Every year has been slightly different

and we don’t normally get much in re-gards to cash donations in order to quan-tify it. However, we always have at leasttwo or three vans full of gifts that we de-liver to the above organizations.

G.T: Was it successful this year com-pared to past years?

At this time is too early to say since weare not picking up the collection boxesuntil December 5th, however, based on

what I have seen so far, the amount ofcalls I have received from people inter-ested in making donations or volunteer-ing to help us sort and wrap the gifts Ithink we are going to have a very suc-cessful year despite the financial diffi-culties many people are experiencingright now.

G.T: What is the challenging part ofthis whole event?

The most challenging part is the logis-tics behind the whole enterprise, wehave to reach out to housekeeping andto shipping and receiving to get boxesmonths in advanced of the event. Wehave to make arrangements to wash thedonated (used) clothing, we have to re-serve the Gothic Lounge for our sorting

and wrapping. We create flyers, gifttags, volunteer lists; we reach out to stu-dent organizations and to the entire Uni-versity community. We have to reservethe vans that will be used to pick up anddeliver the gifts.

G.T: What is the most rewarding partof this whole event?

The most rewarding part is knowingthat you are helping families in desper-ate need and making a significant dif-ference in the lives of others. I havetwo young kids myself and I can’timagine what it would be like not to beable to provide for their needs. I per-sonally always make donations of newclothing and toys for toddlers andyoung children.

Helping families during the holidays

By Jan Aguilos

APulitizer Prize-winningNew York Times jour-nalist, Andrea Elliott,

spoke at New Jersey City Uni-versity on November 21 aboutAmerican Muslims. The speak-ing engagement was part ofNJCU’s University Lecture Se-ries and took place in the GothicLounge in Hepburn Hall Room202.

Elliott won her Pulitzer Prize,the most prestigious award forboth journalism and literature,in 2007 for Feature Writing on aseries of articles focused onSheik Reda Shata, an Egyptian-born Imam from Brooklyn.

The Interim Vice President ofUniversity Advancement,William Fellenberg, started offintroducing the program, andthen Alina Gharabegian made afew remarks on some of theachievements that Andrea El-liott has accomplished and in-troduced her.

Elliot began speaking about adecade bookended by both the9/11 terrorist attacks and thecontinued fight over the Park 51Islamic Center.

“I think that integration is thedefining issue,” said Andrea El-liott in an exclusive interviewwith the Gothic Times during areception after she spoke in theGothic Lounge.

Americans, not just AmericanMuslims, Elliott said during herspeaking engagement, were in“new territory.” Suspicion hadarisen after 9/11 and manyAmericans were threatened byimages of “rows of men in knit-ted caps bowing their heads” aswell as veiled Muslim womenbeing boxed in as “looking frag-ile” and oppressed.

During the years after 9/11, El-liot surmised there was an un-dertow of suspicion that lead toheadlines like “Behind the Evil”and “Voices Torn Behind theVeil” from news organizationswhich focused on the “far edges

of Islam and its adherents.”There were Mohammads who

now wanted to be referred to as“Mo” and Osamas who nowwanted to be referred to as“Sam” in the post-9/11 years.

Sheik Reda Shata, the subjectof the Pulitzer-winning articlesand Omar Hammami representtwo diametrically opposed sidesof the need for Muslim Ameri-cans to integrate in America.

Sheik Reda was a young, 30-something (at the time Elliottfirst covered him) immigrantimam from Egypt who had toadapt to the needs of the mostlyimmigrant Muslims of hisBrooklyn neighborhood. Hewas trusted and closely tied tomany in his community, and El-liott knew that as a reporter sheneeded his contacts if shewanted to write about howAmerican Muslims were tryingto integrate in a post-9/11 world.

“I was struggling to get accessto the Muslim community and Ifinally hit a wall,” admitted El-

liott to the Gothic Times. “Theonly way I was going to get adeeper story was by spending alot of time in one place.”

According to the Office ofCommunications and Market-ing, around 80 students, staff,and faculty attended the event,

and the audience members wereopen to asking Elliott questionsafter she spoke.

“I liked [the event] becauseAndrea Elliott gave a positiveopinion of Muslims,” saidAyyad, a Political Science majorfrom North Bergen. “I’m usedto hearing negative opinions ofMuslims from non-Muslims.”

Hugo Morales, Interim Direc-tor of the Office of Communi-cations and Marketing, set upthe event with the help of stu-dents and recent alumni and waspositive about his assessment ofthe event.

“I didn’t have the opportunityto enjoy events,” said Moraleswhen he brought up the fact thathe attended NJCU years ago.“[Current students] really havethe opportunity to enjoy studentactivities.”

Note: The days for the Univer-sity Lecture Series will changeto Tuesdays starting the 2012-2013 Academic Year.

NJCU LECTURE SERIES

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist writes about American imam

nahj.org

Andrea Elliott

“At the end of theday we’re all stu-dents. We all applied[and] two got in.”

Mack Do,

SGo VP of Activities

Gifts from the Heart:

By Angela Giddings

Senior Graphic Designmajor Avi McClain, 27, ofBrooklyn, NY is the sole

proprietor of ContemporaryNegro, a product line inspiredby an absence of cultural esteemamong African Americans.

A year and a half ago, Mc-Clain had a vision to make rep-resenting black roots and culturecool again. McClain is not onlythe owner of ContemporaryNegro but he also fills the roleof designer, promoter, and sales-men.

G.T: What inspired the birth ofyour Contemporary Negro?

What inspired me to start wasbasically the lack of direction Iwas seeing in the majority ofAfrican-Americans. You have toknow where you came from toknow where you are going. \

When I was growing up, thePro Black movement was sostrong. It was seen in art, music,movies, and fashion. It waseverywhere!

And as I got older, it died outin a sense. At least in terms of itbeing “mainstream” of coursethere were people who neverleft the movement, but a lot did.

So I came to a realization thatI want to do my part in trying torestore the “old” movement, andI saw that others felt the same.

G.T: What is the goal Contem-porary Negro?

To bring back what NEVERshould have left and that is rep-resenting black roots and cul-ture.

G.T: How do you market your-self and Contemporary Negro?

I market myself through Face-book, blogs, Twitter and busi-ness cards.

G.T: What is your target mar-ket?

The whole African Diaspora,but for now, African-Americansnationwide.G.T: What products do you sell?

Right now, I sell buttons,medallions that you can wear asa pin also, and T-Shirts. All myproducts have to do with signif-icant events and people in BlackHistory or just taking a newtwist on representing roots andculture in this modern day.

G.T: What is the price range ofyour products/services?

My prices range from $3-$20.Even when I expand to jackets,

hoodies, sweaters, hats, etc., Istill will keep the price attain-able, because it’s not about get-ting rich and overcharging, it’sabout having as many peoplerepresent as possible.

G.T: What inspires your de-signs?

I want it to be hip to wearthings of black culture again.

G.T: Do you do fashion shows/events? Are there any comingup?

I’ve done a few small eventsand flea markets. As of now,there are none coming up, but Ialways let my customers andfans know what’s going on.

G.T: Do you plan to expand?When, where and how?

I do plan to expand to ship myproducts Worldwide for starters.I also want to reach out to morepeople in a position to reach themasses, namely musicians andactors.

G.T: What do you enjoy most

December 7, 2011 The Gothic Times Page 5

LiFESTyLE

By Kiera Rolle

New Year’s Eve is rightaround the corner andyou have nowhere to go?

You don’t want to hangout withyour family and you don’t wantto pay outrageous prices for aclub.

Never fear – here are some funyet innovative ways to bring inthe New Year without the sameold ideas.

Ever wonder how it would feelcelebrating the New Year withbig name celebrities? Well here’syour chance, at the Madame Tus-saud’s Wax Museum Theater inNew York City. Ring in the NewYear with open bar from 8 p.m.-2 a.m. (21+), h’orderves from8.p.m.-11.p.m. and unlimitedsoda and juice for under the 21years old crowd.

You get to mingle with 200life-like celebrities and popularicons, right in the middle ofTimes Square and just a blockfrom the famous ball drop. Ad-mission $85 for juice bar and $95

for open bar. Located a blockaway from the Port Authorityand just eight blocks away fromthe PATH train located on 34thStreet.

At the AMC movie theater inTime Square, enjoy watching theball drop from six stories highand bring in the New Year withmovies, dancing, games andparty favors, all included withadmission.

General party admission is $35for 21+ and $25 under 21. It’s afun and exciting way to bring inthe year with friends and family.Located a block from Port au-thority and six blocks from thePATH.

For all the bikers and skatersout there, don’t fret, there is aNew Year’s Eve celebration foryou guys too and the best part it’sFREE! “Time up!” is celebratingtheir 12th annual Bike and Rideoutdoor after party, and all youneed is a bike or a pair of skates.

The meet up will be at 10:30p.m .at Washington Square Park,under the arch and from there

you will ride to Belvedere Castlein the Middle of central park.The ride will be followed by aNew Year’s Eve dance party andfireworks.

Make sure to dress festive,bring your favorite New Year’snoisemakers as well as food anddrinks to share. You can take the6,B, N, R, Q, 2, 3 and 1 train all

to Central Park. Do you like marathons but feel

like miles of running is just notfor you? How about celebrating

123rf.com

Hot spots to visit on New Year’s Eve

Photo courtesy of Avi McClain

Student and business owner Avi McClain

Representing your rootsshould never be out of style!

“When I was growingup, the Pro Blackmovement was sostrong! …As I got olderit died out in a sense.”

Avi McClain

owner, Contemporary Negro

Retail Heeling!By Angela Giddings

With the holiday seasonwell underway andsales galore, now is a

great time to shop for a pair ofshoes either for a gift or a holidayparty. Not sure what heels aretrendy for the season? Here’s alittle help.

WedgesWedges were “it” during

Spring/Summer 2011 and theyhave carried over into this seasonas one of the heel types to wear.Wedges are super comfortableand for many easier to walk inthan a standard heel. Some of thelatest styles can be found atMacy’s, Urban Outfitters, andNordstrom.

If you haven’t quite masteredwalking in heels consider awedge with a heel height of 2” orless. Macy’s has a great selectionof lower wedges. The RocketDog “Tonic” wedge is simple yetstylish and is less than $50.

For medium heel height checkout the Chelsea Crew “Stella”bootie. This 3” wedge bootie hasa lug sole that provides great trac-tion with style. Available atUrban Outfitters for $69, in blackor beige.

For the expert or daredevil isthe Jeffery Campbell “Zip-2”wedge bootie, 6” with a 2” plat-form. Available at Nordstrom for$189.95.

Chunky Heels and Platforms C h u n k y

heels andp l a t f o r m s

are also comfortable and trendythis season. One of the more pop-ular chunky heel shoes is the Jef-fery Campbell “Lita” Bootie. The“Lita” comes in an extremelywide variety of colors, patterns,fabrics and textures and range in

price from $129.95 to $194.95. The best place to shop for the

“Lita” would be Solestruck.com.This site offers about sixty differ-ent options and the price for eachis just $159.95 with free 24hrshipping Monday-Friday.Solestruck.com also has the“Lita” in fur for $194.95.

If you don’t find your size thereis an option for an email alertwhen your size becomes avail-able.

Continued on page 11

“Tonic” byRocket Dog

“Zip-2”by JeffreyCampbell

Spiked “Lita” by JeffreyCampbell

Zebra-stripes“Lita” by JeffreyCampbell

Purple feather“Lita” by JeffreyCampbell

Continued on page 11

American flag“Lita” by JeffreyCampbell

By Francis A. Wilson

Of all the musicals, in all ofthe college campuses, inall the world, “City of

Angels” had to come to mine.“City of Angels” is a musical thatfirst debuted at the Virginia The-ater. It debuted December 11,1989, and it ran for three years.

The musical has been per-formed over eight hundred times,and now finds itself here at theMargaret Williams Theater atNew Jersey City University.“City of Angels” was originallydirected by Michael Blakemore,but now has been brought to thestudents and various other pa-trons of Jersey City by the Music,Dance, and Theater Department.

“City of Angels” is a noir style

musical steeped in the metaphys-ical with snippets of risquéscenes of sexual tension anddownright debauchery. The sex-ual content was one of the musi-cal’s more redeeming qualities.

The noir [a black detectivestory] style was a real treat, andvery refreshing. It really appealedto the paperback detective novelenthusiast, and seemed to go overquite well. The noir style is easilyidentifiable, and a fun playfulway to portray a story. However,the problem comes in when youadd the metaphysical twist.

The divergent and separate col-liding worlds confused me atfirst. I thought “City of Angels”was just going to be a noir detec-tive story, very basic and plain,but then the second world

emerged and threw me for a bitof a loop.

In a topsy-turvy kind of a way Ifumbled around; mentally speak-ing of course, trying to piece to-gether what was going on. Itturns out that the musical’s storyis in two parts, told in two waysby two separate worlds that sharea loose connection to one an-other.

Each world was separate, anddistinct. The noir world was ob-viously dark, and covered in var-ious shades. It almost has a grittyfeel to it. Just the way I like myplays.

The second world was bright,and very much vivid. Initiallythis fact didn’t dawn on me. Itwas only later after some re-search that I discovered this in-teresting fact about the musical.

The problem was the lights. Thelights were overwhelming attimes, and seemed as though theywere stuck on the rave setting.Often I would find myself dis-tracted by the lights, and couldn’tfollow the story as easily becauseof them.

The stages, however, were mag-nificent and well done. The ele-gant design, and simplicity addedin the shifting story arch’s, andhide the stage crew perfectly.This was until a small malfunc-tion during one shift.

The stage background seemedto take on a life of its own at onepoint, and decided to become alittle problematic. It really wasn’ta big deal, and the stage crew

promptly took care of the prob-lem. Other than that, the transi-tions between the two story lines,and the shifting scenes came offflawlessly.

Sure, the musical had a few hic-cups here and there, but the over-all experience was alright. Iwould have enjoyed “City of An-gels” more if I had more theaterknowledge. The over use of

lights, and their intensity dis-tracted me, and the metaphysicalaspect confused me.

The thing that was importantwas that the actors enjoyed whatthey were doing, and it showed.They may not have won me overcompletely, but judging from theaudience reactions, I am surethey will go on to have great suc-cess during their run.

By Aida Toro

When the holidays areapproaching, enter-tainment rises as

well. Throughout Christmastime, there are tree lightings,toy drives, and Christmasmusic. One of the media’s mostpopular forms of entertainmentfor the holidays is CharlesDickens’ “A Christmas Carol.”This year, it will be aired atNew Jersey City University.Marketing Director of theShakespeare Actor Company,Peter Galman, is the promoterof the play at NJCU.

“We are the Actor Shake-speare Company, We have ashow at NJCU every year,” saysGalman.

A Christmas Carol is a novelby Charles Dickens which wasfirst published in 1843. The taletakes place in London, England,in which Ebenezer Scrooge, aselfish and snobby businessman does not believe in theChristmas spirit. Throughoutthe tale, three ghosts visitScrooge in order to make himbelieve in Christmas: TheGhost of Christmas Past, TheGhost of Christmas Present,and The Ghost of Christmas Yetto Come. Afterwards, Scroogelearns a couple of lessons andresults in believing in Christ-mas. With this being the actualstory of the Christmas Carol,the play that the ShakespeareActor Company is launching atNJCU is a tad bit different.

Galman says, “This is our firstholiday show. What makes thisshow special is that it is onlyperformed by one actor.”

The play is usually performedby many actors, not just one.However, Galman providedsome fun facts on why this ver-sion of “A Christmas Carol” isa one man show. The play isbased on the solo acting adap-

tation of the Dicken’s Christ-mas Carol by Greg Oliver Bod-ine. Although Bodineperformed this one-man act be-fore, the solo acts will be per-formed by the ActorShakespeare Company’s resi-dent artist, Colin Ryan.

“The actor is telling the storyof the Christmas Carol as thenarrator himself, which isCharles Dickens. He does storytelling which he is immersedinto each character, like anygood story teller would do”,said Galman.

Not only is “A ChristmasCarol” being performed, but sois “A Child’s Christmas inWales” by Dylan Thomas. Thepoem is an anecdotal retellingof Christmas from the view of ayoung child and is a romanti-cized version of the past Christ-mases, which portrayed anostalgic and simpler time.

“The poem is very unique anduniversal due to the fact that itshows the audience that Christ-mas is a time about cominghome to family and mainly fo-cuses on children. It also dis-cusses on how much it snowsand that Christmas is alwayswhite, describing the effect thatsnow has on people. Christmas,snow, and family, are a goodway to warm the audience upfor the Christmas Carol,” saysGalman.

The first piece of this one manshow will be Dylan’s “A Child’sChristmas in Wales,” which willrun for 20 minutes followed byDickens’ “A Christmas Carol”that will run for an hour and 20minutes. The show will be inthe West Side Theatre on thedates of December 8, 9, 10, 11,15, 16, 17, and 18.

Galman says, “We are offer-ing tickets to NJCU Studentsfor only $10 and a 50 percentdiscount for six or more stu-dents.

Page 6 The Gothic Times December 7, 2011

ARTS & ENTERTAiNMENT

ThEATRE REVIEW

‘A Splitting Case’

By Hannah Botjer

Single mother MichelleWest is an adjunct atNew Jersey City Univer-

sity, and Fairleigh DickensonUniversity. She has just writtenher second book, Still Stand-ing: Single, Mothers On theFront Line. Her latest book isan intimate segment of her firstbook, Lily of the Valley. Bothbooks are on the hardships ofbeing a single mother.

West believes, “In order toget through you have to gothrough and now I can go backand help someone else getthrough,” and her book is justthat.

The title Still Standing speaksfor itself. Still Standing is acaptivating book about womenwho have overcame and con-quered and how the journey

makes you better. “If you’re still standing

you’ve already won,” Westsaid.

Still Standing speaks to thelives of single mothers. Thebook talks about the hardships,depression, forgiveness, loneli-ness, and celibacy, among ahost of things. It’s about spiri-tual, emotional, and physicalwellness.

“Single mothers are the mostneglected women on theplanet,” said West, “They giveso much of themselves untilthere is nothing left for them.”

West is particularly proud ofthe last chapter. It’s devoted toleaving legacies for your chil-dren. “Children are sponges totheir parents. If we aren’t care-ful to lead a proper life withmorals and values our childrenwon’t either,” West claims. “I

stayed grounded because myparents passed on their strictChristian values to their chil-dren.”

This chapter describes howall mothers want to leavesomething behind for theirchildren but it’s deeper thanjust a tangible object: it’s whatmothers instill in their childrenthat they carry with them forthe rest of their lives. West be-lieves that we have to be care-ful of what we expose ourchildren to if we want to leavea positive legacy.

West decided to write thebook because she feels she iscompelled as a woman to makea difference everywhere shegoes. “It’s something everymother who is great in life hasto do, we’re obligated to helpeach other,” West said.

BooK REVIEW

‘Still Standing: Single Mothers on the Front Line’

downtownglendora.netPhoto by nj.com

Cast of “City of Angels.”

‘Tis the season for…

Continued on page 10

By Francis A. Wilson

Iwas recently fortunate enoughto get a hold of a copy of“Battlefield 3,” and I must say

that it was, for the most part, awe-some.

Battlefield is a first personshooter first developed by theSwedish company EA Digital Il-lusions CE. Their first entry in thefranchise was Battlefield 1942which debuted in 2002 for thecomputer console. They prima-rily stayed in their computer com-fort zone, but quickly adapted tochanging times by adding per-sonal console gaming to their re-sume.

The first game to come out forpersonal gaming consoles was“Battlefield 2: Modern Combat.”EA Digital Illusions CE has hada long and illustrious career, and“Battlefield 3” is a shining exam-ple of their dedication to excel-lence. However, was it really thatgreat?

Let us go through what I con-

sider to be the pros of “Battlefield3,” shall we; what few of themthat I could glean out of my play-ing time. Initially I beta tested thistitle, and had mixed thoughts andmany concerns.

Upon popping this title into mytenth Xbox 360, I immediatelynotice the graphic update. Thegraphics are stunning to say theleast. It was almost scary to seesuch realistic graphics in a firstperson shooter like this.

Needless to say it was a pleas-ant surprise. There was one prob-lem, however, and that was theability to see specs of dust, anddirt on the screen. It was a littledistracting at times, but a minornuisance.

The gameplay was phenomenal.Running through the streets ofwar trodden third world countriesnever felt so real and so fluid. Themotion capture came out great.This is crucial because it makesevading hordes of enemies mucheasier. Finally I can run fast, hopover obstacles, and not get caught

up with lag ridden mechanics.Hurdles and obstacles are a thingof the past, because vaultingmakes quick work of them.

Vaulting has become one of mynew favorite mechanics. And Iknow what you’re thinking, “wellis it the kind of vaulting we havecome to expect from ‘Gears ofWar’?”

And the short answer is no! It isthe one stop shop kind of vault-ing that you would expect a sol-dier would be capable of doing inreal life. It is about time we areable to mimic such maneuversproperly in a first person shooter.

I almost forgot one of the bestparts of this game. I couldn’t be-lieve it when I saw it, and laterchecked my achievements pageto confirm that there aren’t anycollectables. Or at the very least“Battlefield 3” is not one of thosefirst person shooters that has anover emphasized view on collect-ables.

I personally hate them, and wishthey wouldn’t be so much of abane for me. I really can’t helpgoing and collecting them all. Itis like a compulsion now, and“Battlefield 3” is a refreshingchange from that hideous com-pulsive grind. But as far as prosgo, that was about it.

The gameplay was a little slowfor my liking. Having a team isnice and all; especially when theirartificial intelligence is too spec-tacular, but having to wait fortheir slow digital bodies to catchup in order to progress the game-play is really annoying.

We as gamers are actionstarved, and expect a level of in-tensity that “Battlefield 3” justdoesn’t provide. However, if youare a “Battlefield” veteran I amsure you are already used to this.It just was a pain for me, but thistype of gameplay is a staple of the“Battlefield” franchise whichmakes it unique and sets it apartfrom other first person shooters inthe genre.

“Battlefield 3” may be stunningand well designed, but it suffers

from one crucial flaw. This gamehas been brought to us by EA.And as any real gamer will know,EA is notorious for being a com-plete pain in the neck. They havebeen known to close downservers on popular games. Theyhave always had a problem link-ing their website and their gamestogether; if anyone has everplayed “Skate” you know this istrue.

But the real kicker is the prod-uct code nonsensical trend thatEA seems to love so much. Themultiplayer portion of the gameis not only on a separate disc;which is a pain in itself, but it alsorequires a product code in orderto be able to use it. So forgetabout buying it second hand, for-get about borrowing it from a

friend, and forget about renting it.This little addition to the game isa horrible money grubbing plotwhose sole design is to ruin fru-gal gamers’ life.

And to think, the fiscally re-sponsible ones are to be punished.This recent trend of micro mar-keting is a crime, and a crime inwhich EA has fully endorsed andabsorbed into its regular opera-tions. What a shame.

To be honest, “Battlefield: BadCompany 2” was better in myopinion. But then again I am nota “Battlefield” fanboy so whoseopinion really matters. If youwere going to buy it, I am sureyou are still going to buy it. Butbe warned, “Battlefield 3” justdoesn’t seem to live up to thehype.

December 7, 2011 The Gothic Times Page 7

ARTS & ENTERTAiNMENT

By Matthew Barnes

Calling all gamers and gunlovers! Go to your localgame store, because Call

of Duty Modern Warfare 3 hashit the shelves! Call of DutyModern Warfare 3 was given ahighly anticipated release on No-vember 8, midnight. Those whopurchased the game could pickup the limited edition, normaledition, or Hardened edition.Due to this November being themonth of the empty wallet,gamers would be wise to choosewhat version attunes to theirbudget.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare3, like all other Call of Dutygames are described in oneword: Awesome. The game itselfhas three modes, Special Ops,Campaign, and Multiplayer thatincludes both local, and Xboxlive. There is also a set of fiftyachievements, and a primo pack-age for those who had the gameon pre-order.

In this game the campaign fol-lows the theme of recapturing theworld that was stolen from you.The first level takes place in NewYork City, which has been rav-

aged by war, and occupied by theRussian army. The Russian armyhas taken control of the airspace,and set up a signal jammingtower. This means that no Amer-ican air units could establishdominance, and without air con-trol New York is as good as lost.Your job is to destroy the signaljamming tower and drive theRussians out of New York.

You, the player assume the roleof Frost, a decorated soldier inAmerica’s Army and the story’sprotagonist of Modern Warfare3’s campaign. The battle in NewYork is just the beginning, as youcontinue your role in the story,you will discover that this wholewar is just a piece of a conspir-acy, hiding answers that Frosthimself has to fight in both a vis-ible war, and an invisible war tofind. The campaign is not com-pulsory, and you have the optionof simply head-shotting n00bs inOnline Multiplayer.

Online Multiplayer makes a re-turn (again) with new maps, newguns, and a balanced set of perks.The online Multiplayer gifts theplayer with three starting classesthat have their own guns, perksand Killstreaks. The multiplayer

seems to take a different ap-proach to warfare, as it punishesthose who are too mobile andseems to have volatile spawningpositions. Campers have beenpunished a bit more this timearound. The most notable featureof the new multiplayer are theKillstreaks. Killstreaks enableyou to summon powerful armyartillery to your command. Ar-tillery such as the Cobra gunner,UAV scanner, Recon Drone, andthe always fun airstrike. Thegame play has been given littlechange, so it still retains the sameawesomeness. The graphics havealso been given a small boost,but the movement of the player,and the engine of the game itselfhas no noteworthy changes.

Special Ops mode is a refresh-ing change of pace that givesplayers a change of pace fromthe ever stale “Zombie mode”Special ops offers two features:Survival mode, and Missionmode. Survival mode is a modewhere you have an endlessamount of soldiers thrown atyou, and you are timed on howlong you can survive againstthem. The longer you surviveand kill, the better your score.

The alternative mode, dubbedmission mode is a change ofpace from the norm. Players aregiven specific tasks. Upon re-ceiving the task, the playershould carry them out, and begiven the next mission. Missionmode and survival mode is a re-freshing change of pace, but therest of the game remains disap-pointingly the same as the lastthree hyped up Call of Dutygames.

Call of Duty has receivedscarce changes, the survivalmode and mission mode aregreat new additions, but every-thing else seems so mundane. Asfun and awesome as the onlinemulti-player is, it still leaves

players thirsty for change,change that is scarcely, if everquenched. The compulsory cam-paign mode is a great what-ifscenario, but I feel that its railshooter, slash beat’em up till theboss mechanics leave me expect-ing more by the ending. Survivalmode and Mission mode are anice change of pace, but this stilldoes not fulfill my constant de-mand for change that InfinityWard and Treyarch fail to de-liver. I rate Call of Duty ModernWarfare 3 an 8/10. I was expect-ing more, and honestly I think Imay have been a fool to expectthat much change in this seriesthat has turned into a no – effortcash cow.

VIDEo GAME REVIEW

Will you answer the ‘Call of Duty?’

VIDEo GAME REVIEW

‘Battlefield 3’

gameinformer.com

Write it down!Join the staff of The Gothic Times.

You can always contact us by e-mailing gothictimes@gmail.com orstopping by the office at GSUB 301.

firstcovers.com

Page 8 The Gothic Times December 7, 2011

FEATuRES

By Allison Lozada

The Rossey buildinghouses many talents suchas guitarists, percussion-

ists, singers and music teachers.Dr. Maredia Warren is the Co-ordinator of Music Educationhere on campus and is one ofthe many responsible for the fu-ture music teachers. Her job isto train music majors into be-coming music educators.

Warren explained that she hashad a strong passion for musicfor most of her life. “[As] a childI was musically inclined,” admitted Warren, “Ihave to thank my parents for recognizing that Ihad talent.” When she was five years old her fa-ther brought a piano home and she began to playwith it on her own which led to her lessons. Sheexplained, “My ear and talent put it (music) to-gether.”

Warren’s interest in music went further frompiano. She has been playing the organ since achild, played the saxophone, trumpet, and glock-enspiel in her High School band. She also wasinvolved in her college marching band.

NJCU has a university chorale, jazz band, sym-phony of winds and percussion (symphonicband), and an orchestra. All of these ensemblesperform one concert per semester. The orchestraof strings is not to be confused with the pit or-chestra which is the musicians who perform atplays.

Dr. Warren’s involvement with NJCU’s De-partment of Music, Dance, and Theatre (MDT)started in 2000. Among many of her accom-plishments she has conducted several honor cho-ruses which include the New Jersey All StateMixed Chorus, the New Jersey All StateWomen’s Chorus, and the Massachusetts ACDAWomen’s Honor Choir. Among her involvement,has also been the Director of Choral Music at

Teaneck High School in Teaneck,New Jersey. She has also trav-eled, toured, and held workshopsin Africa, Australia, Canada,China, and Europe.

While some students aspire tojoin the campus of NJCU with amusical talent it is not rare to findstudents who can play more thanone instrument. “[There’s] al-ways room for growth,” saidWarren.

When asked what is her mostrewarding part of her job shereplied, “Seeing the change instudents and to see how they

progress from year to year, blossoming as artistsor future teachers.”

Students must audition on their best instrumentto become part of the music department, how-ever if they are at a crossroads on which instru-ment they should focus, they are simply advisedto go forward with the instrument “they arestronger with and have preference for.” Never-theless, some students still apply (study anotherinstrument) or dabble in bands outside of NJCU.

Warren was a part time educator at William Pa-terson University, Montclair University, HerbertH. Lehman College, and Fairleigh DickinsonUniversity. To say she has a good amount of ex-perience in her field would be an understatement.

The music department is “central to the life ofthe university,” said Warren. “We hope this de-partment will continue to grow and continue tobe one of the best places for educating musiciansand teachers.”

There is never a dull moment when passing bythe Rossey building because of all the musicseeping out. Some may complain they are prac-ticing too loud but as Warren describes it, “Theuniversity campus is dead without music.”

Editor’s note: Some of the information statedabove was provided by the NJCU website.

By Allison Lozada

Being the current SGO VicePresident of Public Informationand double majoring in politicalscience and media arts, it is nowonder you will see Jan Aguilos,24, from Secaucus, running allover the NJCU campus doingthis or that. He has been the pasteditor for three sections of theGothic Times and in the Springof 2010 he created and was Pres-ident of the Model United Na-tions Club. Along with his manyaccomplishments he has alsoconcurrently served as the VicePresident of the Gothic KnightFilms.

G.T: What is your position atSGO?

J.A: My position is Vice Presi-dent of Public Information. Ireach out and promote on behalfof Student Government Organi-zation.

G.T: What made you want torun for the position?

J.A: I thought it would be agood way to try out my skills asa student-leader and try to posi-tively affect the campus commu-nity.

G.T: What’s the hardest/easiestpart about your job?

J.A: The hardest part of the jobis trying to please people who arejust set in their ways. The easiestpart of my job is talking to stu-dents on campus.

G.T: What satisfaction do youget being an SGO board mem-

ber? J.A: I have the satisfaction in

knowing that I care about howother people experience thiscommunity we have. I am satis-fied in collaborating with otherpeople and discussing commongoals.

G.T: What does SGO do for thecampus community?

J.A: We create events that areavailable to all students! We'vehad parties, cook-outs, socials,public forums on Public Safety,the Library the Bookstore, andthe Cafeteria, as well as meetingsthat are open to the public. Weare the bridge between the stu-dents and administration.

G.T: Does SGO have any fu-ture events?

J.A: SGO will have events Jan-uary to May and we will planthem in December. We have somany ideas that we know that thecampus will just love.

By Allison Lozada

When you walk on tocampus you can usu-ally out the fraternities.

They wear their letters, theirjackets, or you can hear themclapping their hands when theyare stepping, but have you heardof a musical frat? Phi Mu AlphaSinfonia is a fraternity that ismade up of men who specializein music.

“When I was first approachedabout joining I was like ‘eh afrat’ and I thought ‘yeah it’s justdrinking and stupid,’” said WillSapanaro, 24, current Brother,“but then I started to read up on it[PMA] and started talking tothese cats and then I realized thisis great.”

If you missed them at thisyear’s Meet The Greeks, NJCU’sPhi Mu Alpha Sinfonia colonywas revived again in 2009 afterbeing absent since 2001 due tolow interest. They became rec-ognized as a fully fledged chap-ter when they had their CrossingCeremony on November 12,2011.

“2009 to 2010 was spent hold-ing just interest meetings,” saidChris Messina, 24 and currentBrother. Dave Yule, 21, Presidentof the local chapter added, “Wewent to an event at William Pat-terson and we handed in paperwork for colony status, which isbasically the beginning of creat-ing a chapter.”

Bernard Mathews, AdjunctProfessor who teaches guitarclass at NJCU is one of thefounding fathers of NJCU’s

chapter who encouraged musicstudents to revive it again. Hewas the orchestra director at Leo-nia High School where VicePresident of PMA Zach Seely,23, went to high school alongwith Will Sapanaro. Not only didMathews encourage the two incollege but encouraged them togo to NJCU after high school.

Ossian E. Mills is the foundingfather of this musical frat andwas established on October 6,1898 at the New England Con-servatory in Boston, Massachu-setts. Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia isthe largest and longest runningmusical frat in the nation.

Seely now a NJCU Alumnuswas responsible for making an-

nouncements in class and en-couraging music students to joinafter becoming inspired byMathews.

Before you assume you mustbe a music major think again.“We are a social frat first, but wehave a common interest inmusic,” said Yule.

They do not require anyonewho is interested to take a musicclass, just be friendly. However,this doesn’t change the fact ma-jority of the fraternity are musicmajors.

“It’s all about the fraternityamongst us, brotherhoodamongst the rest of the musicalstudents, advancing music inAmerica and a loyalty to the

school,” Yule added.They plan on having some

events in the near future such asa fundraiser to raise money to at-tend their National Convention,which is every three years. An-other plan they hope to succeedin is an event for a charity thatdonates instrument strings tothird world countries. In Febru-ary they will be doing a “SingingValentine.”

Yule explains, “You get awooden rose and a song from thebrothers,” and Sapanaro adds,“We do it to anyone or anythingas long as you pay.”

They did this last year to sev-eral students and Vice Presidentof NJCU, Dr. Bruno.

The brothers also mentionedthe Mills Music Mission createdby Ossian Mills. The purpose ofthis mission is to sing/performfor people. Recently the brothershave gone to Waterford Towersin Edgewater to perform for sen-ior citizens, along with A.Harry Moore School for chil-dren, and have done communityservice in their own music de-partment.

The community service con-sisted of them bringing dishes offood the Wednesday before lastyear’s Thanksgiving Feast andthis year for music students whomust stay on campus during thebreak. Among these they havealso helped at Open house andaudition days for incoming fresh-man/transfers.

This fraternity is only for menbut there is another female frat –not a sorority – similar to thismusical group: Sigma AlphaIota. They have been aroundcampus since 1997 as well andtheir President is Crystal Santi-ago.

If you are interested in check-ing Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia outyou can either go to their officein Grossnickle 244, their face-book PhiMuAlphaSinfonia, or e-mail them pmaoth@gmail.com.

Just keep in mind, you don’tneed to be a music major orknow how to play an instrument.If you can vibe with the “friendlyfrat” chances are they will workwith you. “We’re the cool kids,”said Sapanaro, “we’re not aboutwasting people’s time; we areabout building each other up andhelping each other out.”

Photo from facebook/PhiMuAlphaSinfonia

Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia members at their Cross Ceremony on November 12.

GETTING To KNoW SGo

Jan Auilos, VP of Public InformationThe rooms are alive with the sound of music

Photo courtesy of Jan Auilos

Jan Auilos

Frat strikes right chord: ‘We’re the cool kids’

njcu.edu

Dr. Maredia Warren

December 7, 2011 The Gothic Times Page 9

OPiNiON & ADViCE

By Diego ugaz

Every year approximately65,000 undocumented stu-dents graduate from high

schools all over the United Statesand out of those, just abouttwenty percent will go to college.This statistic shows us that everyyear the number of undocu-mented students increases andthat more and more of them as-pire to go to college and lead asuccessful life. A couple of yearsago, a proposal called theDREAM Act was submitted tothe House of Representativeswhich would have provided con-ditional permanent residence toillegal students of good moralcharacter, a sound idea thatwould have brought America onestep closer to immigration re-form. However, it never made itpast the Senate to the dismay ofmany families of illegal collegehopefuls.

There seems to be a commonmisconception about the averageAmerican immigrant. Most peo-ple believe that he/she is lazy,steals jobs from other people, anddoesn’t pay taxes. The truth isthat most of them are hard work-ers that wind up doing most ofthe jobs that nobody else wants todo because we all know that most

legal citizens don’t line up to pickstrawberries for two dollars a day.The state of California receivesover two billion dollars in taxmoney from undocumented im-migrants according to stats, inhopes of building a good taxrecord so that one day they willeventually be rewarded with aresidence or citizenship for theircontributions. I know this be-cause my family and I have paidtaxes since we first came to thiscountry ten years ago from ourhomeland of Peru and we still doto this very day, to no reward ofcourse. We have spent manyyears in and out of court, visitingand paying lawyers, and fillingout applications and forms; noneof this has gotten us where wewanted to be or where we werepromised we would be. If any-thing we have lost more thananything because at a point wewere as close as anyone can getto attaining the coveted greencard, just to have our dreamscrushed by a technicality. Nowwe linger in limbo waiting for theworld to finally accept that this isa real problem that affects manygood people who want to make itin America, not leech off of it andmove on to the next host.

Higher education for the chil-dren of immigrants is a tough

hurdle to get through in life be-cause of several factors. First,many colleges do not accept ille-gal students. Secondly, beingforced to pay more than just theregular tuition, they cannot re-ceive any help from the state inform of financial aid or a schol-arship since most of them are notgeared towards undocumentedimmigrants.

To make matters worse, lastyear around April a bill waspassed in the state of Arizona toaid in the capture of undocu-mented immigrants and help re-duce the amount of people whoconstantly enter the countrythrough their border.

The bill originally stated thatany immigrant that lived in Ari-

zona had to have their documen-tation papers on them at all time.Outrages ensued because thiswould allow the police to guess aperson’s immigration statusbased on guesswork and stereo-types, because there really is nogreat detective technique to weedout the immigrants and the nativeborn Americans.

The Department of Justice thencorrected the law so that the po-lice would not be allowed to re-quest this information frompeople during a lawful stop or ar-rest due to the fact that it wouldcause the state and the countrybig problems if the wrong personwas detained; to this day Arizonais still trying to have that rulingreversed.

With that being said, it alreadymakes Arizona one of the mostdangerous places to live in Amer-ica for undocumented immi-grants, and it also will definitelyhave an effect on those undocu-

mented students who dream ofapplying to college in Arizonabut probably will not due to fearof being caught by the law.

These kids are not the ones toblame for what they want; mosttimes they are brought to thiscountry as children if not youngerbecause their parents escapedtheir country to make a better lifefor themselves and their families.Is that not the same principle onwhich America was founded?Life, liberty, and the pursuit ofhappiness seem to have taken adifferent turn in this modern age.

Whether it was religious perse-cution, a will to succeed in a for-eign land, or just a newbeginning, America has alwaysbeen known to house those whowant to strive and live the dream.So when the dream turns into anightmare, when and how willwe be able to wake up and setthings right, for the people, forthe future, and for our country?

2011-2012 Editorial Board Members

GSuB, 2039 Kennedy Blvd, Room 301Jersey City, NJ 07305

201-200-3575gothictimes@gmail.com

www.gothictimes.net

Policies of The Gothic Times

Letters to the Editor are welcome from any member of the campus community. Editorsreserve the right to edit for space. Please address all correspondence to Editor of The Gothic

Times in GSUB, 2039 Kennedy Blvd, Room 301. We cannot guarantee the return of anysubmissions. If you wish to have the letter returned, please enclose a self-addressed stampedenvelope.

Letters to the Editor can also be sent to gothictimes@njcu.edu. All letters must be typedand include full name, age, major/occupation, class year, and hometown. A letter submissiondoes not guarantee publication. The Gothic Times looks forward to hearing from you.

The adviser of The Gothic Times is not responsible for the content or the opinionsexpressed in the newspaper. All editorial content is subject to the review of The Gothic Times

Editor. All opinions expressed on the Opinion Page, and those held by advertisers, are notnecessarily those of The Gothic Times.

This paper is printed on recycled content newspaper.

Allison Lozada – Editor in ChiefMonir Khilla – Managing Editor

Rafal Rogoza – Deputy Managing EditorRafal Rogoza – News Editor

Frank Wilson – Arts & Entertainment EditorMonir Khilla – Features Editor

Allison Lozada – Co-Editor FeaturesAngela Giddings – Lifestyle Editor

Monir Khilla – Opinion & Advice EditorEdgar Rivas Jr. – Sports EditorJoseph Rivera – Photographer

Sean Rammarian – Photographer Armando Sultan – Cartoonist

ADViSOR

Prof. James Broderick

The American Nightmare

When most campus or-ganizations hold eventsto attract people they

normally have food and music.Cookies, cupcakes, and iced teaare normally what you will findat the table, but what aboutmusic? You can bet hip-hop willbe the main genre of musicplayed.

Event after event organizationsstick to one genre of music and(mostly) attract people whoenjoy hip hop while others areturned off. With a university sodiverse it is shocking to knowonly hip hop is the target ofmusic people choose to playloudly throughout the cafeteria.

Some students may argue that

majority of the campus enjoyship hop but what about the mi-nority? Organizations or eventsheld by others would have headsturning and attract more interestif they broaden their horizonsand explored other means ofmusic.

When someone who can’tstand hip hop walks through theopening doors of GSUB theynormally turn around and walkout. If they aren’t interested inthe music, why would they stopby and endure it?

Metal, pop, rock, techno, oreven country would be a refresh-ing start to bring more attentionrather than the constant Drake,Lil’ Wayne, Chris Brown, and

Usher. By playing Drake forthree minutes then Katy Perry forthe next, then Slayer, so on andso forth, this would be fair foreveryone and gain the attentionof others.

If the GSUB is holding anevent people already suspect hiphop will be the music, it can be achange of pace if there is some-thing other than the usual play-ing.

If organizations want theirevent to be successful they needto expand their minds andplaylist to a variation of music.Once the variation opens morepeople would be thinking, “hey,let’s check this table out,” ratherthan “S.T.F.U!”

EDIToRIAL: Let the beat STOP!

This year our list is long but we swear everything willbenefit the campus community as a whole. There aremany students who spend at least one day devoted toschool from morning to evening. Those students needquite a few items to keep their brains working and bod-ies functioning.

Students work hard all year round. Some even regis-ter for summer and winter classes, but they aren’t theonly hard workers. Our custodians, security, profes-sors, and the rest of NJCU’s staff make sure the uni-versity is constantly clean, well protected, and properlyeducated. On their down time they deserve some sortof entertainment whether it is better internet connec-tion or cheaper food.

Santa, we promise to be good, “for goodness sake,”if you can bring us these gifts!

1. As a campus community we would like to keep ourclasses small, so please Santa, don’t cut our classes.

2. If you send us more adjuncts then classes won’thave to be cut! There will be enough professors foreveryone!

3. We would love to nibble every now and then with-out having to break our wallets. Cheaper cafeteria foodwould be a great gift.

4. Santa, I know this may be selfish but please bringus more writers to the Gothic Times. Our voices need

to be heard.5. Our university is getting too expensive; more fi-

nancial aid and more grants would help the entireNJCU student body to attend school.

6. We may be asking for too much but please bringus more music variety – no more constant hip hopmusic.

7. We have all these fantastic NJCU teams but welack one sport that most colleges have: football team.If we play nice can you send us a new football team?

8. Most of us enjoy donating to charity, but we can’twhen others steal our money. Can you please send usbetter-secured gym lockers?

9. With the winter season, sniffles are sure to appear.Cheaper medical insurance would be helpful and ben-eficial.

10. Please, Santa, we are begging you to send uscheaper priced book at our book store! Without themwe cannot study for all our exams.

11. We promise to try to stop downloading music ifyou send us better Wi-Fi. Ethernet cords are too muchof a hassle to carry around.

Thanks, Santa, I know you won’t let us down.

See you soon,Allison Lozada

Dear Santa,

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· Photo by Rafal Rogoza

Gothic Times Editor in Chief Ally Lozada

Her three children mainly in-spired her. “I wanted to makesure that when they grew up andnavigated through life theywanted to be like mom and dowhat mom did,” West said.

West decided to write once shehad hit her lowest point. Afterher divorce she was worried shewasn’t going to be able to pro-vide for her family.

School was a huge milestonefor West because she grew up ina traditional Christian homewhere women were the house-keepers and men were theproviders. She wanted to goback to school because shewanted to establish a career andmake a difference.

After all the hardships, West

confesses she’s proud of whereshe is now. Writing this bookhelps her remember where shecame from.

“If it wasn’t for the grace ofgod I wouldn’t have survived.”She believes her faith made herstronger throughout the journey.

West is having a book signingon December 11 at the MaryMcLeod Bethune Life Center at4 p.m. She hopes the signingmeans more than just buying thebook. She wants to inspire herreaders: “My ambition is not tojust write; there is a need forwomen to rally and support eachother,”

West said, “86 percent of [sin-gle parent] families are singlemothers families and 14 percentare single fathers.”

By Atilla Azami

‘Tis the season! That timeof the year when yougot to juggle; work,

shopping, research papers, foot-ball stats—and of course, every-one’s favorite—preparing forfinal exams. Ugh. Here are sometips collected from various pro-fessors and staff to stay ahead ofthe curve when it comes topreparing for finals.

Carla Deschamp, a grad studentat NJCU and CSS tutor offeredthe following:

Work on good note-takingahead of time. If you haven’tdone so hitherto, no better timethan now to pick up the essentialskill and habit.

Establish a daily study programand adhere to the schedule.

Be aware of times of the daywhen you possess optimal focus.(For those who need a triple shotof espresso Starbucks coffee to

spell their name correctly, night-time studying might be the best.)

Avoid time wasters: cellphones, TV, Facebook, distract-ing friends, etc.

Professor Elizabeth Lenn, anEnglish adjunct advised:

Know the facts: what is the dateand time of your final? Is it cu-

mulative, meaning it covers in-formation from the whole se-mester, or just since themidterm? Will it be multiplechoice, or are you expected towrite short answers or essays?Knowing what you need to studyis the first step in preparing tostudy.

Buddy up and use technology:many people find it useful tostudy with a classmate. Thismeans you can split up the classmaterial and share your work.With technology, like a Googledoc or a Wiki page, iChat orSkype, or the creation and shar-ing of podcasts, group study canbe both productive and conven-ient.

Determine the following ques-tions: What is your studyingstyle? Do you remember infor-mation better if there is a visual,like a flow chart or diagram?Does outlining help you organizeinformation?

Be healthy. Make sure you areeating a balanced diet, sleepingat least 7 1/2 hours every night,and staying active, whether thatbe hitting the gym or just goingfor a daily walk. A healthy bodyis key to a healthy mind.

Not surprisingly, Dr. Dina Lieb,

chair of the Political Science De-partment, strayed from specifictips and shared her insight as anideologue and veteran educator .She said, “From day one, make acommitment to dive into the ma-terial 120% and be proactivethroughout.”

Dr. Lieb added, “Who remem-bers if you had a 3.8 or a 4.0twenty years from now?” Sheelaborated that it’s more impor-tant that students really grasp theconcepts being taught rather thanjust getting a good grade. Shenoted that she sympathizes withher current students because welive in a society of “instant grat-ification.” But, the dictum “easycome, easy go” rings true.

And if all else fails, you can al-ways follow NJCU student andmanaging editor of the GothicTimes Monir Khilla’s method ofstudying via osmosis: sleep withthe book under your pillow!

Page 10 The Gothic Times December 7, 2011

Continued from page 6

OPiNiON & ADViCE

By Rafal Rogoza

If you missed the news because you weregetting ready for your midterms you prob-ably didn’t hear about the student protestsin California and New York. At UC Davisin California students organized to protesta 8% tuition hike, in 2009 their tuition sawa ridiculous 32 percent increase. In NewYork, CUNY students protested another tu-ition hike. This time the plan is to raise tu-ition $300 every year for the next five years.

In both protests the police behaved unpro-fessionally. During the UC Davis protests acop pepper sprayed a line of students asthey sat in protest. It looked like he was watering a garden. InNew York the police used force to clear the protest. Channel 4News was live on the scene. A crowd of students gathered in frontof the camera and when the reporter asked if anyone was hit by thepolice students showed bruises on their faces.

Don’t be surprised if there are more frustrated students protest-ing. The economy is not improving and it seems like everybodyis in debt. The federal government, New Jersey, public universi-ties, and students are all getting by on loans. The federal and stategovernments don’t want to take on more debt to lower tuitioncosts. Instead they’ll give students the bill, increasing student debt,which is another financial crisis in the making.

Tuition increases are getting to the point where students trulycan’t afford a college education, especially students that providefor themselves. Keep in mind that students are paying more forless as universities cut classes and faculty.

These protests are only the tip of the iceberg. Students havelearned how to organize by learning from the Occupy Wall St.movement. Campuses at various schools are discussing tacticsand organizing in creative ways. To be honest they have no choicebut to act.

By Gothic Times staff

KARNOUTOUS HALL—Urban Politics 213 is class thatbrings in political players fromthe community to talk about thepolitical process and activism atlarge in this city.

Taught by Assistant Dean FranMoran, Urban Politics dissolvesthe walls and textbooks andbrings in the subjects them-selves to be objectified, studied,and scrutinized by the students.They receive a first hand expe-rience and a behind-the-scenesview of what it means to be aplayer in local politics.

According to Moran, “Only[at the local] level do you get tomeet your elected officials.”Chances are you might followObama on Twitter but you’renot shaking the man’s hand anytime soon.

At a time when the youth vote(ages 18-29) hovers at around20%, it’s important to be re-minded of what’s at stake forthe community. Bringing inpeople who are directly respon-sible for shaping the future ofJersey City to the classroom

may just be the jolt to actionstudents need to get involved.

One of those subjects wasIvan Freire, a research assistantto Mayor Jerramiah Healy andJersey City University alum.

“I came to [Urban Politics] be-cause I have a deep interest indoing something in the commu-nity.”

That same deep interest droveFreire to manage the “GreenTask Force” initiative. It’s aninitiative that developed the“Adopt-a-Lot” program in Jer-sey City. A hugely successfulprogram springing urban gar-dens to what otherwise wouldbe dusty lots. NJCU has its ownversion of it as some our cafete-ria food is grown in the GSUBterrace.

“Get involved,” exclaimedFreire to as he took over theclass from Moran. Freire grad-uated from NJCU in 2006 andimmediately went to work forthe Mayor’s office. As an un-paid intern. He struggled toeven get his foot in door andafter 6 months of trying he wasin and now he shares his insiderperspective. “The city and the

university should build a bettera relationship,” explains Freire.

Freire has bridged the gap be-tween political science studentto political science operativeand if this class is as successfuland as engaging as it appears ona cold wet Wednesday eveningthen the 27 faithful that showedup should produce another fu-ture agent of change.

“How can we turn inner cityschools into suburban schools,”asked Anthony Ramirez a26history major.

Ramirez points out to inequal-ity as one his main reasons be-hind taking urban politics in hisjunior year. “Jersey City needsa lot of improvements and Iwant to improve the quality oflife in the inner city.”

Ramirez has been influencedto the point where he’s trying tostart a soccer clinic with thegoal of creating change amongthe city kids.

The class also goes on the roadand visits city council meetings.In two weeks they will get achance to interact with Council-man Steve Fulop, a Mayoralcandidate for the next election.

123rf.com

Monir Khilla’s method of studying via osmosis.

Cartoon by Armando Sultan

The many corporate trademarks of the occupy Wall Street movement.

Student protests areonly the tip of the iceberg

Toss out the cheat sheets – hit the books!

Photo by Sean Rammarian

Deputy managing editor Rafal Rogoza

urban City meets urban Class atintersection of urban Politics 213

Still Standing

December 7, 2011 The Gothic Times Page 11

Unions and Students Protest at NJCU

should have some sympathy andcompassion for us and to supporthigher education.”

Due to the budget cuts NJCU isfacing this semester, classes andsections will be cut for Spring2012.

Professor Joseph Moskowitz,Associate Professor of PoliticalScience said “The administrationis forced to, they don’t want to dothis, but they’re forced to cutclass sections and classes studentsare already enrolled in.”

Dr. Moskowitz also said “Stu-dents could see class sizes of upto 35 students this upcomingSpring 2012 semester. If it wasn’tfor certain professors checkingtheir courses for next semester,the administration would havegotten away with it.”

Many Students sounded off onthe issue. Britney Robinson, 22,Criminal Justice major fromTrenton said “It might be an issuefor people who are graduating.That may prolong students fromgraduating if their class is cut andisn’t available until next semesteror next year.”

Kyle Preston, 19, Audio Engi-

neer and Media Arts major fromNewark said “I think it’s terrible.I like smaller classes so I can getthe attention I need.

When asked on what the ad-ministration should do instead,both Preston and Robinsonagreed that “They [the adminis-tration] need to cut their pay. Wepay to go here and yet, we can’ttake the classes we need. If wecut back on professors it’s a big-ger burden on them.”

Nirav Patel, 23, Computer Sci-ence and Physics major from Jer-sey City said “I think it’s horriblethey’re cutting classes. It’s stupidthat tuition is going up and every-thing else is going down.”

Patel also agreed and said that“The administration should cuttheir payroll and take a biggerstep in lobbying the state.”

Some students have alreadybegun to feel the strains of classcuts and are experiencing over-loaded classes.

Jessica Flores, 19, Educationand History major from UnionCity said “One of my classes ispretty packed. People take advan-tage of the professor and submitstuff late, while I submit stuff ontime and receive the same credit.”

Flores, however, thinks thatthere should be alternative op-tions to remedy the situation.

“I think the school should reachout more to the Alumni and havethem help fundraise.”

Samir Zaroui, 20, Marketingmajor from Union City said “Icame to NJCU because it’s asmall university, too many peoplein a class isn’t good.”

Zaroui feels that “The adminis-tration has to gather together as agroup and to talk everything out.”

When asked to comment, Dr.Barbara Feldman, Dean of theCollege of Arts and Sciences, ad-dressed concerns over the classcuts and said “I want to assurestudents that decisions regardingcourse cancellations are madecollaboratively between theDean’s office and Departmentchairs. Many factors enter intothe decision [to cancel classes].”

Dean Feldman said that “Ourfirst and primary factor in the de-cision to cancel classes has al-ways been the effect acancellation may have on stu-dents and how we can accommo-date their needs should a class becancelled. We will continue thispractice going forward.”

Professional Studiesrity/cybersecurity. Being one ofonly 160 schools in the countryaccredited by the National Secu-rity Agency, NJCU’s Profes-sional Security Department has amajor edge over many big-nameschools when it comes to the Na-tional Security field. Dr. Soo Hoosaid that “Undergraduate stu-dents [with Bachelor’s degrees]can get a certification from theNational Security Agency (NSA)by taking three of our graduatelevel courses and get certified inInformation Security and it’s agreat thing to have, especially ona resume. Our Graduate studentscan take four classes in our Mas-ter’s level courses and also getcertified as an Information Secu-rities Officer; this has, on aver-age, anywhere from a $7,000 to$15,000 increase in salary forpeople who are already Informa-tion Security professionals.”

But, what can a National Secu-rity major, or minor, actually dowith their degree? Dr. Soo Hooreplied, “A lot of them can workin any of the over 17 intelligencecommunities and it’s actuallymore because one of those de-partments is the Department ofHomeland Security; it contains22 separate agencies under it’sumbrella. It’s close to 40 differ-ent agencies in total.”

Besides being one of only 160schools in the country to offerthis accreditation, NJCU’s Pro-fessional Security department is

the only school that focuses onleadership, management, andpolicy, while other schools focuson science, or engineering.

“I can foresee us having aSchool of National SecurityStudies with three different de-partments: National Security,Corporate Security, and Cyberse-curity. I definitely see it [grow-ing] to that point one day.”

During a time when public uni-versity funding is getting cut, Dr.Collins said that “There may beindividuals who may perceivethat this program is going to takemoney away from other pro-grams and it was designed specif-ically not to do that. Schedulingduring off-peak hours and mak-ing sure enough money comes into generate budgeting and fund-ing, help operate the program.”

of yester year, but full blownempty bank accounts kind ofconsumerism.

Christmas just gives the corpo-rations, toy makers, and gadgetinventers to come up with newproducts on the fly in order to getready for the holiday season, overinflate the prices, and make akilling. And I do mean a killing,literally and metaphorically.

People have died in the pursuitof these tasty damnable treats. Imean come on, isn’t Christmassupposed to be about giving andhelping your fellow man?

Well not anymore folks. It’snow about the latest piece oftechnology that will go obsoletein a month only to be replaced bysomething else, or its cousin witha different name that is essen-

tially the same thing but in a dif-ferent box.

That aside, Christmas is still awonderful time of year. I loveshuffling my car out of pounds ofsnow in freezing cold tempera-tures. No one likes digging outtheir car, but they can’t help butdo it to get to the stores in orderto buy more useless crap.

Go figure. Instead, what thecorporations and toy companiesshould do is make something tonot only dig your car out, butmake it fun, quick and easy. Fatchance of that actually happen-ing.

I mean really, the only thing thisholiday really does is it teacheschildren the valuable lesson ofgetting dumped on in life, andhow to be pandered out for whatcan only be considered sweatshop prices for lazy people who

would rather shell out the dollarsin order to get out of doing thework themselves.

What a valuable and delightfulholiday lesson for the future ofmankind. It is no surprise whythey grow up to not only hateChristmas, but also to eventuallyhave kids of their own in order toperpetuate the cycle. Wow, whata wonderful holiday.

This is why I hate Christmas.This is why I hate this time ofyear. And, most of all I knowninety percent of you will agreewith me, and think the very samething.

What happened to Christmas,and the true spirit of Christmas? Iam sure it still exists, or at thevery least can still exist in somesmall measure somewhere in thischaotic world of corporate con-sumerism. Can’t it?

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Representing your rootsabout your company?

I enjoy the fact that I get to dosomething I love in every sense ofthat statement.G.T: How much of your life re-volves around building your com-pany?

Right now, my company is50/50 with school and work.G.T: What sets your companyapart from others of its kind?

Personally, the few companiesthat I did see were in terms of de-signs and they over charged. Theywere trying to be a “High Fash-ion” brand, which is not my mo-tive.G.T: If you had to be compared toanother company what companywould it be and why?

If I can be compared, it wouldbe to those companies, trying to

break barriers, and do somethingnew with something that got“old.”G.T: What have been some of theobstacles you have faced withgrowing your company?

MONEY, MONEY, MONEY,and marketing.G.T: Where do you see your com-pany in a year? In five years?

In a year I hope my company ismarketed better. In five years, Ihope to be more established andalso have a way to give back forall the support.G.T: Where can yourproducts/services be purchased?

Http://www.contemporaryne-gro.com

My Blog: http://contempo-rarynegro.tumblr.com

My Twitter: @ObviouslyAvi

Christmas? Bah humbug!

Continued from page 5

New Year’s hot spotsyour New Year’s by watching amarathon for free with EmeraldNuts Midnight run. Starting at10:30 p.m. there will be music,dancing, a costume parade con-test, fireworks and a four-milerace at midnight in Central Park.

Now you don’t have to stretchor pull out your running shoesand most importantly you don’thave to touch your wallet to seethis event. You can take the 6,B,N, R, Q, 2, 3 and 1 train all toCentral Park.

Last but not least the most pop-ular event till the end of forever:New Year’s Eve ball drop. Forthe people who love adventure

and the cold, well this is for you.Free to everyone, which is great,no advance ticket and no fancyoutfits required.

Make sure you arrive in the citysuper early, dress in layers be-cause it won’t be a nice sunnyday, bring blankets and chairs soyou wont be tired and of coursebring your noise makers andfunky new years gear.

Located right in Times Squareand its right by the Port Author-ity and a couple of blocks fromthe PATH train.

Have a safe and an extraordi-nary New Year’s!

Editors note: Info provided byTimeOutNY.com and Joonbug.com

Continued from page 5

NEWS

Photo by Jersey Journal © used with permission

Unions and students picketing on Kennedy Boulevard.

“I can foresee us hav-ing a School of Na-tional Security Studieswith three differentdepartments: Na-tional Security, Cor-porate Security, andCybersecurity. I defi-nitely see it [growing]to that point one day.”

Dr. Soo hoo,

NJCU Associate Professor

Page 12 The Gothic Times December 7, 2011

SPORTS

By Alex Johanesen

For the first time in history aGothic Knight women’s soccercoach was awarded the NewJersey Athletic ConferenceCoach of the Year. Coach RobBielan , the 2011 recipient, ledthe team to a 14-8 season, fin-ishing with a post-season ap-pearance in NJAC and ECACplay-offs.

“I wanted to be 500 in theNJAC and bring the team intothe play-offs,” said Bielan, “Itwas a goal I set years ago whenI first took over the program.We finished 5th in the confer-ence this year.”

Since his start in 2006 theteam has steadily improvedeach year. In 2009 the teambroke its win record with 13 vic-tories. That year NJCUwomen’s soccer also made itsfirst post-season debut ever asthey competed in ECACs. Theteam improved to 14 wins in2010, 4 of which were againstNJAC competitors and a madea visit to both the NJAC andECAC tournament.

“We brought in a couple betterplayers to build our foundation,like Jen Albuja, Nicole Sarica,and Erica Buonacquista. Whenpeople see three successfulwomen on the field and in the

classroom it attracts them to theuniversity,” He added, “Thisyear, a lot of our players cameinto preseason ready to play.They followed the offseasonworkouts and they came fo-cused. The seniors came inwanting to push the team furtherthan it’s ever gone. The fresh-men came in wanting to con-tribute and make it better for theseniors.”

Bielan’s career record is 60-60-1; there is a chance the winswill begin to surpass the lossesnow, especially with his expec-tations of the players.

“What’s helped us is that onmy team there are no powerkicks. Whether you play for 10minutes or 90 minutes you don’tstop until you’re done,” saidBielan. “The players get as-sessed every day so they playhard. I don’t think at any otherschool you will get a genuineopportunity to showcase whatyou have.”

His coaching style allows theteam to flourish beyond whathas been expected of them. Be-tween the powerhouse offensiveduo of Julia Caseres and Jen-nifer Albuja and the rock soliddefense, Bielan must be doingsomething right.

“I had two kinds of coaches inmy life. I’ve had the role mod-

els who stepped up and taughtme the right way to coach. Thenof course I’ve had the badcoaches; the ones who didn’thave positive reinforcement. Itook the good and from the badI learned how not to treat mystudent-athletes or my staff,”said Bielan.

Now that the Coach of theYear has reached his goal of500, he hopes to continue tofocus on his players. His goalsfor next season are clear.

“I want to keep my kids ontrack to graduate on time and tocontinue being successful in theclassroom, which is para-mount,” said Bielan, “The barneeds to keep raising to makeourselves a force to reckonwith.”

Photo by NJCU Office Sports

Coach Rob Bielan

2011-12 NJCU Women’s Basketball Preview By Edgar Rivas, Jr.

The 2010-11 season did notfare well for the NJCUWomen’s Basketball team.They did not win a single con-ference game (0-13) or had agood home record (2-10).They had a 6-game losingstreak at one point in the sea-son. Their 5-20 overall recordeventually led to Sandra NunezDates relieved of her coachingduties after nine seasons.

In comes Amy Mulligan.Coach Mulligan played collegebasketball for the University ofVermont from 1999-2002. Shethen played for Queens Col-lege from 2003-2005. Hired inMay, she became the 13thcoach in NJCU Women’s Bas-ketball history.

“I love it. I enjoy coming towork everyday [and] workingwith the girls,” she said. “It’san exciting place to be rightnow.”

Coach Mulligan wants to im-prove from the 5-20 record oflast season.

“[We need to] get back tofundementals. We have towork on improving our indi-

vidual play along with ourteam play,” she Mulligan.

NJAC is perhaps the toughestconference there is. Having agood conference record showsthat you can compete with thebest.

“It’s very important to win aconference game becausethat’s our main competition. Itwould be big for the confi-dence of the girls and the pro-gram to win a conferencegame,” she said.

Home court advantage is bas-ketball’s most significant ele-ment. The most famouscollege arenas are known forhaving great home court ad-vantage. For example,Cameron Indoor Stadium,home of Duke University. It isimportant the team wins theirhome games.

“Home court advantage is bigfor a team because you shouldbe comfortable [playing] there.You should feel better at yourgame at home oppose to whenyou’re on the road,” she said.

Don’t expect an instant im-pact right away. It will taketime for this program to be attheir greatest potential.

“The next 1-2 years is goingto be a rebuilding year. They’regetting use to me as a coach,my philosophies, and ways asa coach. I’m getting use tothem as players. As we moveforward it’s going to be an im-pact,” said Mulligan.

Coach Mulligan’s expeca-tions for this team are simple,“For all the girls to basicallyplay hard, come with an openmind, and get better day-by-day,” she said.

Photo by NJCU Office Sports Information

Women’s Basketball TeamCoach Amy Mulligan

Rob Bielan, NJAC Coach of the Year

For more information about NJCUsports, games, and events visit

www.NJCUGothicKnights.com

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Golazoo!By Alberto Arias

“Playing soccer with your feetis one thing, but playing withyour heart is another. Anyonewho thinks sunshine is happinesshas never played soccer in therain. Soccer players aren't justmade of their technique, but alsoof their passion.” said WalterAvans, 21, marketing major,Roselle Park, NJ.

The Thomas M. Gerrity Ath-letic Complex will miss the scor-ing threat next season from theirprolific NJCU goal scorer, Wal-ter Avans. On September 4, sen-ior broke the school record,when he erupted for five goals.He spearheaded a charge inwhich he accumulated 10 pointsin a 12-1 rout against MedgarEvers.

Earlier this month, the NJCUstar forward was recognized forhis outstanding play on the fieldby being selected to the First-Team All-NJAC squad. Thisaward is handed out to only fourforwards in the conference and ishandpicked by the10 headcoaches. Also, in 2010 he was se-lected to the Second-Team All-NJAC squad.

“It feels great to be among thetop players,” said Avans, “Everyplayer trains and works hard tobe the best they can be and whenothers see the hard work and rec-ognize you it’s a great feeling.”

Avans finished his NJCU ca-reer ranked second with an im-pressive 39 career goals and thirdwith 89 points. He finished the2011 season with 12 goals andfive assists on 29 points in 17games.

Avans attempted 56 shots (33shots on goal), scored the firstgoal of a game three times whilebagging a pair of hat tricks, withone game-winner. He led NJCUGothic Knights in goals, assist,

shots, and shots on goal. “Cito” as his teammates refer

to him, says all his achievementson the field are attributed to hishard work and dedication in theoff season. His goal total in-creased every season as the gamebegan to slow down for him andhe grew accustomed to his team-mates playing tendencies. Histeammates say he plays with theattacking ability of the explosiveforward, Sergio Aguero, fromManchester City for his tenacityand determination on the field.

“I’m going to miss all myteammates. They weren’t just

teammates but more like broth-ers. We always stuck togetherthrough thick and thin,” addedAvans, “It’s a great feelingknowing when I went on thefield the ten guys around me andthe rest of the players andcoaches on the bench believed inme and stuck behind me.”

Cito plans on resuming his soc-cer career and will continue toutilize his work ethic to play onthe professional level. “It takesan athlete to play soccer, but anartist to be a soccer player.”

Photo by NJCU Office Sports Information

Walter Avans

PLAYERS TO WATCHGabrielle Rivera, 20, Biology, Teaneck, NJ•Playing her first full season here after transfering mid-season last year:“I actually came in last season and it’s a different change for me [com-pared to] where I was use to. I love playing here.”•On Coach Mulligan:“She’s actually committed. She puts time into us. She’ll do anything tomake everyone know every play [and] every single drill we’re doing.”

Luisa Montalvo, 18, Criminal Justice, Bayonne, NJ•On making an impact in her rookie season:“I kind of want to change things around because last year the team was-n’t so good. Now we have a bunch of new players, including myself.Hopefully I can set an example.”•On Coach Mulligan:“She’s a really good coach. She goes by doing things correctly. Eventhe little things, she makes sure that’s done correctly.”

Delia Chernez, 20, Professional Security Studies, Union City, NJ•On why this season will be different than last season:“As a team we mesh better. We’re very together. We have 3 respectablecoaches who have experience and know what they’re doing.”•On expectations of her teammates:“Play hard every game, to play smart together, and for us to win or losetogether.”

Maria Suarez, 19, Biology (Pre-Med), Cliffside Park, NJ•On the infamous “Sophomore Slump”:“I don’t believe in ‘The Sophomore Slump’ but I think it’s all [about]determination.”•On the team’s chemistry:“It’s good, new, [and] it’s starting.”