24 January 1989
Wake Up!
Good morning campers. We hope you have enjoyed your break, but it's over now. You have returned to the microcosm that we call college, a tiny little world where everyone has a place.To make this little world go 'round it takes a lot of pushing--and those pushing hardest decide where it goes.
The administration pushes hard. It has the resources and clear goals in mind. Unfortunately, the student concerns it rolls over are not very high on its list of priorities.
The faculty is in there pushing, too--sometimes right up against the administration, often to no avail.
And the students? Well, we're here. There are about 6,000 of us. We'd win in a brawl, why shouldn't we have an effect on the direction this college takes?
The answer is that we should. And we can, but only if we take an on going, informed and unified stand for our rights. So, when things start rolling over you (or rolling you over), you're not alone and you don't have to take it lying down. Wake up--there are more of us than them.
Students affected by this incident would probably benefit to contact the student government before paying any fines. We will follow up this issue with a complete editorial next week.
31 January 1989
The Beast
This week: student/faculty relations. We at The Signal would not find it surprising to find that every student at Trenton State had, at one point or another in his college career, encountered one of those frightening aberrations--a teacher.
Most encounters are non-threatening. Teachers are generally well trained and do not attack unless provoked (e.g. poked at with a stick). As many of you know, if you are careful not to attract attention, teachers will often leave you in peace (thank the gods).
But, on those rare occasions when your options are limited and you have no choice, how should you approach these mysterious creatures? Say you feel the grade wasn't high enough on that paper you wept blood for, or you have two midterms and a paper due on the same day--what can you do?
Well, this is where the experience of the "lifers" on the editorial board comes in handy. Many here have survived close encounters with the hairy beasts and have come back to share what we learned. We have braved the close quarters and fetid breath to discover true facts and arcane secrets. They are reproduced here:
First, it is advantageous to remember that we share a common tongue with teachers--although they often employ outdated usages and unusual polysyllabic combinations. The English language can be a powerful tool when dealing with the "frightening others."
Second, we have found that many teachers are of a very similar genetic stock, and can be classified right along with students as "human." It is theorized that teachers may have degenerated from student stock.
Closer research had indicated that in some cases teachers drink beer, have sex and watch TV.* Due to the danger of this type of research it has been limited.
Be warned--as is well known, teachers can smell fear. You must never show fear; it excites them terribly. But in contrast (and lesser known) they often have a very keen sense for truth and sincerity. Most become quite docile when confronted with these potent devices.
So, to sum up: We have learned that there is hope for the student who must face a faculty member in close quarters. The informed student knows that he can use his native tongue to communicate his situation and special needs. Further, he may open lines of empathy with these poor, degenerate "once-students." Careful not to show fear, the intrepid student may employ "truth" and "sincerity" to tame his erstwhile adversary.
With these simple guidelines, a student may confidently and competently confront problems such as might be expected in the natural course of events. Good luck. *This research has not yet conclusively determined whether the teachers had actually learned these behaviors or were cleverly mimicking behaviors they had observed.
Ticket update
Student response was swift and effective. Mike McCormick, SGA president, contacted Harold Eickhoff, college president, last Tuesday and the situation was cleared up with surprising efficiency.
Campus police issued an apology (see letters, page 5) and rescinded the fines. The first two weeks of school remain a period of grace for students with cars.
We were impressed by the facility with which the situation was handled and hope to see this kind of response to student need emulated at all levels.
We also applaud the humility and grace of the campus police in what must have been an embarrassing situation and recognize infallibility as the curse of a select few.
7 February 1989
People's forum
But what if you have other kinds of problems? Perhaps miscellaneous problems? One of the things you can do is write your local newspaper (that's us). The letter section is a forum for opinions (that's yours). We'll run most anything under 500 words, so long as it's typed and double spaced.
There are a few people who might be considered regulars. They aren't necessarily the people with the best opinions, just the ones who write in.
You don't have to wait for us to offend you before you write in--it could take months (although we will get around to you eventually). You could write in just because you have an opinion. About anything.
Campus Life Board
"What's the Campus Life Board?" you may ask. It is supposed to be a forum for student leaders to discuss topics of importance to all student organizations.
"Well, what's an at-large representative?" you may further inquire. An at-large representative is a student who is not affiliated with any specific organization but serves on the board anyway. "Why me?" you make ask. Why not?
Spoon-gate
Is this some kind of effort to forestall dining hall terrorism? Don't they realize that this only takes the metal flatware from the law-abiding diners? Soon, the only diners with metal knives and forks will be those who got them on the black market.
Perhaps this is an effort to encourage students to use spoons more often. Don't they realize that this kind of artificial constraint only heightens tensions and prejudices against spoons?
We recognize the need for greater awareness of spoons, but we feel that the answer lies in increased spoon education, not half-assed spoon social engineering.
Empty barrel
Just thinking
14 February 1989
Aww, Heck
Affection, I love you. You don't give me hives.Words of love are not uncommon in this time of greeting card prose and sappy second-rate love poetry. What may not be so common is love. To help recognize it, we will explain what love is not:
Love is not a hungry fire that burns hot and consumes the core of the soul.
Love is not strength that rises in times of great need to conquer adversity.
Love is not a blood-red rose vibrant with life until the day it inevitably withers.
Despite what you may read in your Valentine cards, love is not a rose, an inner strength, a fire, a miracle, a cure, a commodity, or any other terribly poetic thing. People expect a great deal from this emotion and are often disappointed. It's no wonder that some call St. Valentine's Day "the holiday from Hell."
Love doesn't cure acne, it's not the only reason to live and it won't pay the rent. If you wait for love to make your life complete you probably won't recognize it if and when it does come along.
Love should not be confused with sex. The tinglings and fires that burn inside are probably sex. There's nothing wrong with sex--it's great stuff, but it is not love (for the record, the Editor highly recommends sex).
If anything, love is a rock: simple, solid, elemental. It can be warm if you keep it close and you can work with it if you are patient. But you can't build castles with love alone. You need the mortar of conviction, honesty, forbearance and various other admirable traits.
Aww, heck, we don't have anything against love. As a matter of fact we feel that love is greatly maligned. Love is one of the best things going and the bad name it carries in the Eighties is due to unfair expectations. People are spooned this candied pap telling them love can feed the world and right all wrongs. Love doesn't do anything. Love is just love. There's nothing more and nothing less.
Bye bye, Tony
Perhaps some of the constituencies he mentions in his interview in the February 6 issue of This Week will miss him. But he won't miss them. More precisely he won't miss their "contention, acrimony and suspicion." What did he mean by this?
Well, by constituencies he can only mean students, faculty and the administration. We honestly don't believe his troubles lay with the administration.
That leaves students and faculty. We don't think he meant students because he never seemed to give us that much consideration before. He may not even consider us a constituency.
That leaves the faculty, brazenly acrimonious. The Signal doesn't want to take sides at this point in time on this particular issue, but let it be known that perhaps suspicion on the part of the faculty has developed out of the relationship between certain campus constituencies.
Tony is eager to begin work on his new college in South Carolina. He says it is very similar to Trenton State. We imagine that in many ways he will use TSC as his model. And, of course, our own president Eickhoff has, in many ways, used William and Mary as his model. And, as we know, William and Mary is modeled, loosely, after the ivy league schools.
Did you follow that? So what South Carolina is getting looks to be a third generation copy of Princeton or Yale (scaled down to four schools and a few thousand students). Oh joy.
Perhaps if Tony is more successful in guiding his ship (without the bothersome "anchors" of uncooperative constituencies) we can someday model Trenton State College after Winthrope College.
The Signal is investigating this situation further and a full report will be forthcoming.
We appreciate the consideration of the campus police in this matter.
21 February 1989
Student nation
We spent most of our time with students from other college newspapers from all over the country. We learned that in many ways Trenton State is not alone.
It seems that apathy was a common problem. We were surprised to discover that our students were more active than most. There were some students who whined about how tough it was to get people involved but others were more constructive. We found many examples of excellent initiative on the part of students.
There was a paper from Maine that supported itself independently of its college, run entirely by students. It was one of the better-looking papers at the conference.
We learned of a case where the students from a college paper took on their Board of Trustees. The board had closed their meeting and kicked out members of the press, then they made some rather important decisions, including one to fire the college president.
But they had done this in violation of that state's open meeting laws. The students took them to court and won. The decisions made at the meeting were overturned and the students were awarded a $3,000 settlement.
There was a strong undercurrent of independence in the college journalists. We shared the challenge of commanding respect in the face of faculty and administrative bias, and most of the students were fighting on all the right fronts. They were playing by the rules of the real world, displaying professionalism and shrewd judgment. Facing down two-bit campus bullies with grace and sophistication.
We came home refreshed. We found that, at least somewhere, students were making a difference. That the cause was not hopeless. That we might one day be the catalyst for change that makes an "institution of excellence" truly thrive.
Rubber Goods
Well, we were caught with our pants down. National Condom Week has come and gone, and The Signal was less than quick on the trigger. We didn't have penetrating coverage, nor in depth probing into one of the most sensitive areas in current events. But we were able to slip between the covers of the Times to find articles they ran last week.The AIDS task force had a table in the student center last Tuesday. In the spirit of Valentine's they spread their free condoms among the students. The condoms were attached to brochures explaining their effective use and detailing dangerous sex practices. Students rose to the occasion and their response was energetic. The condom supply was spent in no time.
The only person not fully satisfied was President Eickhoff, whose feelings of the inadequacy of the program were uncovered in Thursday's Times.
He seemed to feel that filling condoms with helium was somehow inappropriate. He firmly believed that the situation was more serious. He likened the issue to nuclear war and cancer. His views seemed rigid, holding that some matters require a somber situation.
Despite this, the AIDS task force stood up like Trojans and plan to repeat the performance next year. The Signal believes that their efforts were legitimate. The lightness of tone was more than justified in putting students at ease. The president must understand that some students are uncomfortable with condoms and may therefore be living at increased risk.
The Signal is concerned that Eickhoff might have missed the point. If he views sexuality as a somber issue, we must question his ability to identify with the student population he was hired to serve. We appreciate the gravity of the fight against AIDS, but we must also recognize the importance of a familiarity with condoms in this struggle.
Mecca
The pious pilgrims made sure to visit the wailing wall west in front of the Mann Theater. They observed the sacred rituals--putting their feet in the feet of the holy ones, putting their hands in the hands.
They charted the stars, noting important events in the holy houses. On Sunday, the pilgrim spirits were guided though the vaults of heaven, to witness Universal creations.
The pilgrims returned, enlightened yet exhausted. But let it be known that in the city of angels you look down to see the stars.
7 March 1989
'Emerging leaders'
There is more to leadership than repeating key phrases like "emerging leaders," "distinction," and "academic excellence." A leader must listen as well as he speaks. A leader has to offer respect as well as command it. A leader might do well to lead by example. But unfortunately, students looking for examples of leadership at Trenton State have limited options.
The administration offers the Reaganesque "if you ignore it, it will go away" strategy of leadership. Eickhoff has a tight focus on his road to distinction and blithely skips by what might be better recognized communication problems with other governance factors on campus.
The faculty is split between those who are aggressively ineffectual and those who are passively ineffectual. The faculty who care enough to get involved in campus issues are hampered by stubborn, long-standing animosity toward the administration.
Ironically, some of the best examples of leadership come from the student population, our "emerging leaders." The hell of it is that these leaders are emerging not because of the "academic excellence" of TSC, but rather because of the leadership vacuum students must face here.
Scalpers
Those of us who have taken economics understand that the price of a commodity is set by the level where the supply curve and the demand curve cross, regardless of artificial price ceilings. Those who haven't taken economics understand that if you can buy a ticket for three bucks and sell it for 23, you just made 20 bucks, regardless of your background in economics.
Scalping is just another step on our road to distinction and, as such, should be a point of pride. It lends our poor Division III teams that air of distinction shared by all the really big schools (not to mention professional sports and rock shows).
The Signal salutes those enterprising "emerging leaders" whose strong liberal arts education inspired this display of creative capitalism.
The sheep from the
On the one hand, nobody wants a sheep-euphemisming teacher who holds class in the wee hours of the morning* when there is even the hint of an excuse not to.
But, on the other hand, nobody wants to make that effort--to walk across campus in the slush at some gods-forsaken hour of the morning**--only to find that his good-for-nothing, wimp-ass sheep of a teacher has not made a similar effort.
To determine whether your teacher is the sheep or the sheep-euphemismer you will need to turn to science.
From the new physics we understand that this situation is covered by the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. Your teacher takes the place of Schrodenger's cat and your class takes the place of the closed box. According to the principle, your class in neither being held nor canceled until you decide to go or sleep in. When you decide the reality of the situation is determined. Either you go and class is canceled or you sleep in and class is held.
From this simple mental experiment it may be understood that the definition of the standing of each teacher as a sheep or a sheep-euphemismer is determined by each student each morning. It is an awesome responsibility. But, of course, as emerging leaders we are up to it. *The Signal defines the "wee hours" as any time before noon.
**We feel the above mentioned wee hours also are forsaken by the gods.
14 March 1989
go bragh
Friday is St. Patty's Day, when everyone gets to be Irish. People will say "Erin go bragh" even though they're not quite sure what it means. It is commonly translated "Ireland forever," but Ireland is only a simple translation of Erin.In a larger sense, Erin means Earth. The ancient Irish didn't discriminate their "country" from the rest of the world. Nor did they separate their concept of people from their concept of Earth. Erin was their word for the people, the ground, the king--all one thing. The health of the King was reflected in the fertility of the land and the people were an extension of the Earth.
So what? So ancient people weren't as sophisticated as we are today--big deal.
Well, it might not hurt to have some unsophisticated ancient philosophies here at Trenton State. Just imagine "Hillwood Lakes" being used interchangeably with "President Eickhoff"--225 wooded acres located in suburban Eickhoff (would it be lonely there?).
Imagine thinking of Trenton State College as one thing--students, faculty, administration, campus, facilities, Styrofoam--everything. Imagine people leaving here feeling like they had been part of something eternal.
Can you imagine "Trenton State go bragh?"
Nah.
28 March 1989
Lost weekend
Don't you realize that this is a community of scholars? Are you unaware of the ramifications of this admirable catch phrase? It means we have all of our community needs met right here at college.
Yes, that's right--you don't have to drive home to find fulfilling, lucrative jobs, meaningful interpersonal relationships, home cooking and friendly neighbors--they are all here, in our community of scholars.
You can work for well above the minimum wage right on campus, putting you excellent education to work sweeping the student center or putting in ninety-eleven hours a day as a community advisor (CA). You could work at the various snackbars around campus (unless they close for the weekend, of course), or the ever-popular security rounds. With any of these exciting job opportunities you have the chance to rake in the big money.
And there will be plenty of good boyfriends and girlfriends running around just as soon as we cut ourselves off from the rest of the world.
4 April 1989
Barnes ig-Noble?
But shall we say "Hi-ho" and let it go at that? Shall we simply grimace at the start of each semester and bend over to accept this rough usage-or is there an alternative? (You can smell "trick question" all over this one.) As it happens, we may have recourse in this situation. Mike McCormick, SGA president, has sold The Signal on the idea that books can and should be sold at a more reasonable rate. A while back he initiated some research on the subject of text book sales and has but together an impressive (if somewhat wordy) report.
In a nutshell, the report indicates that text book sales could be handled more efficiently and that it is the students of Trenton State who pay (cash or charge) for the present inefficiency.
President McCormick and the SGA have done their homework on this project. They have spread numerous copies of the report around campus and you could get one if you want, but after all the whereases and therefores what you'll find is that they are just looking for your support to help lower text book prices. To show your support they ask that you sign a petition and boycott the bookstore for a couple of days.
The Signal endorses this effort, viewing it as a well conceived and executed action on the part of the students of TSC. We applaud the student government and the initiative they have displayed in this effort. Let it be recognized that the editor cannot recall a time in his four-year career at The Signal when we have made this type of endorsement. We do not now do it lightly.
Wankers
Well, do something you wankers! If you just want to bitch, then do it on paper. Write a letter of complaint to whoever it is and send copies to everyone else. For example, if you don't like the food in Decker (and who does?*) then write to Dick Metzger, director of dinning services, and send copies to Dean of Student Life Bill Klepper, the Student Government Association, the Director of Auxiliary Services Dana Aaron, your advisor, your CA, the Residence Hall Association, your favorite teacher from high school, The Signal, your mom, and anyone else you can think of. The point being that although they all can't necessarily do something about your grievance after it's made, they certainly can do nothing before it's made, and the more paper you put on the various desks, the more your problem becomes their problem.
It is not as difficult as it may seem to send out twenty copies of a letter:
First, write a letter (e.g. "Dear Sirs: Decker food is inadequate to suit my needs. Sincerely, Fred J. Wanker."). If you go to any of the computer labs on campus, the nice people there will love to help you get started writing your letter and they can show you how to print out twenty copies when you're done. Mostly, they don't ask for money, unless you run into an unscrupulous clinician.
Next, put them into campus mail. If you don't know how to use campus mail, ask your CA, or your friends CA if you don't like your CA, or the person at the information booth in the student center if you don't have a CA (or a friend). Campus mail is pretty free, being that you don't have to pay for it.
So the actual capital expenditure of a personal letter writing campaign is fairly reasonable, being the sum of two free activities. The rewards to you, on the other hand, are innumerable. First among them, no one will dare call you a fat-ass pus-bag wanker ever again. *If you though, "I do," then by all means write to say that.
Apologetic Footnote
If you have found the above editorial in any way offensive, again we sincerely apologize.
A.F.
11 April 1989
Abortion
The Supreme Court is now considering a case that some think may be used to overturn the 1983 ruling (Roe vs. Wade) which essentially declared abortion (in the first trimester) part of a woman's right to privacy, protected under the Constitution. Since the Constitution supercedes all other laws, this decision guarantied a woman's right to have an abortion throughout the country. The Supreme Court only rules on issues related to the Constitution. They can not make abortion illegal, only reverse the ruling that it is protected by the Constitution. Even if the Supreme Court takes an extreme stand in this case, the legal standing of abortion will be decided by the individual states.
The question facing the Supreme Court is whether or not abortion is protected by the Constitution. The questions we address here are the ethics or abortion and the government's place in ethical matters.
Hip tip: Do Radiothon
And stuff.
18 April 1989
Boycott
Why not? Maybe because you believe textbook prices are too high--the SGA has gathered some convincing evidence that textbooks could be sold at more reasonable rates. Maybe you want to meet all those sexy available people who are turned on by social consciousness. Maybe you just don't want to miss the Brady Bunch marathon on PBS. The underlying issue is student unity. We can't honestly expect to be taken seriously without some show of resolve. Nobody wants to pay more for books and now there is something we can do about it.
The possibilities are endless. You could boycott the bookstore and have a pizza party at the same time. Over a two day period, you could do your laundry, boycott the bookstore, write a midterm, boycott the bookstore, attend classes, boycott the bookstore, hang out with your friends and boycott the bookstore.
You can double your normal activities, stand up for your rights, become a student activist and participate in the greatest student movement all week, and all you have to do is not shop at the Barnes & Noble bookstore located in our student center.
Radiothon (reprise)
Check out Radiothon. Today and tomorrow only. It's only three bucks. There'll be around four hundred and seventeen hot bands, live or lifelike DJs and tons of great stuff (actual tons, as in thousands of pounds).
You'll kick yourself if you miss it. Your roommate will kick you if you miss it.
So don't miss it.
Budget freeze
Every student organization has a budget which is prepared in February for the following school year. So right now all organizations are working with a budget that was determined at the beginning of last year.
The budget is split into different categories, or budget lines. For example, The Signal has budget lines for printing costs, supplies and equipment maintenance, among other things. There is a certain amount of flexibility in the system. If we have extra money in maintenance, we could use it to buy supplies, provided we can justify the change. There is some pencil pushing and such, but it can be done.
Back to the SGA. As you are no doubt aware, our president is rather fond of large-scale productions--bells and whistles, balloons and bagpipes--you've been there, you know. It's all good clean fun and it brings down the price of refined helium. No problem.
Unfortunately, the SGA budget was set last year, before the current administration took office. President Mike has set his own priorities and in some areas they don't quite match up.
That is where the treasurer comes in. The treasurer must be aware of the whole budget and skillfully juggle. In this case, the treasurer wasn't trained of sufficiently informed.
It's a tough break, but it happens. It's hard for a student organization to cover all its bases--to see that everyone is properly trained and all the paperwork is done.
The Signal is aware of the difficulties inherent in running and organization with a volunteer staff.
If there's trouble in the house, talk it out. It won't go away if it is ignored (after all, we still have a faculty senate). We must not lose sight of our goals aww hell, I'm starting to sound like the president (take your pick).
25 April 1989
Bad Ugliness
The personals editor made a comment that was offensive--not uncommon for the personals editor. Admittedly, this comment was out of line, but it was not libelous, so I allowed it. The comment was not made with malicious intent, it was only a cheap, opportunistic wise-crack (like most of the jokes in the personals).
This crack gave rise to a legitimate grievance on the part of the members of the organization named.
Unfortunately, they did not all pursue legitimate avenues of redress.
A group of ten or so came down to Tuesday night. They made poorly veiled threats and tried to intimidate the three of us present. But they had a legitimate cause, so the personals editor agreed to apologize.
Sometime later, it was alleged that pledges to this organization were throwing all of The Signals away. When I went to check, I found that The Signals had been thrown away, so I went to talk to the president of the organization. He was at a benefit dance and I found it sadly ironic that such ugliness should interfere with a good cause.
The officers of the organization were quite reasonable and I was optimistic that the situation could be resolved cleanly. One of the officers returned to the student center and we retrieved most of the papers from the dumpster. We had them back on the stands within the hour. Copacetic.
By reports, unfortunately, the papers were missing again within another hour or so. If, as a result, you missed the issue, we preserved several hundred issues in out offices and there are others around campus.
It's a shame that it takes this kind of ugliness to open lines of communication between two proud (and I mean that in the worst way) student organizations. Ultimately, I hope it can be turned around to serve student concerns on the whole.
Anyway, it brings up issues like censorship, libel, our rights as a student newspaper, your rights as the students who pay for it, the sanctity of our contributors, what you may find in a dumpster behind the student center in the middle of the night and other burning topics.
As your source on these things, we will try to educate you on what your options are, here and in the real world, if you have a problem with your newspaper.
What to do
But The Signal is also your paper. It is funded in part by the student activity fees and what you have to say is important to us. You don't have to represent a cause or be offended on some higher level--if we say something you don't like let us know.
There are several ways to do this. First would have to be a letter to the editor. As editor, I take ultimate responsibility for everything in The Signal. If it is questionable and you see it in the paper, it is because I have seen it first. My judgement in not inviolate, but I take responsibility for everything. And so long as our policies are followed, we will run all letters. Within reason.
If you don't care for that approach (which is understandable) you can call the office on any campus phone (#2424) and speak to or leave a message for any editor or staff member. The editors of the paper are mostly responsible people who will own up to their mistakes.
If you prefer an even more personal approach, then leave a note and ask to meet with the offending party. You wouldn't be turned down if you offered to buy lunch. Or stop down to our offices with anything less than a militant attitude. If your organization is offended, then by all means send a representative (one would be sufficient).
But I think the most important thing to do is decide exactly what it is you want before coming down. The hard, sad truth is that an apology or retraction only draws more attention to something. Perhaps more than it's worth.
What not to do
First and foremost, do not try to throw away all the copies of The Signal that you find around campus. Not only is this selfish, childish and pointless, it is against the law.
I call it selfish because to toss the whole paper (all 1,568 column inches) that students paid for and students produced over a joke of less than one column inch is an exercise in self-indulgence that is appalling.
I call it childish because this kind of reaction typifies the simplistic thinking of a spoiled child, heedless of consequences.
I call it pointless because if no legitimate effort is made to present a grievance, in all likelihood The Signal will simply reprint the paper in its entirety.
Finally, it should be taken into consideration that disposing of a free newspaper is illegal. Students at the University of Florida found out the hard way, according to College Media Advisors. "Keeping Free Press Free," issued annually by the group, reported that four students were convicted on criminal theft charges for disposing of 300 copies of a free student monthly.
The next thing on the list of things not to do would have to be coming down in a pack to threaten and intimidate the editors. Again, this is against the law and it only serves to exacerbate an already touchy situation. Further, it clouds the issue and serves to break down lines of communication. If you truly seek redress, a pack of brutal reprobates is not you best option.
Other things not to do would include bombing our offices, starting a scab newspaper, dropping out of school, blinding yourself, subscribing to This Week, or calling our parents to complain.
Again, you ought to seriously consider your objectives before approaching any problem. If your objective is to seek solace for some wrong committed against you by this publication, follow the above recommendations. If your objective is to prove how virile you are by gang-beating an offensive history education major, then you can fuck yourself.
2 May 1989
Boned (again)
Well, it's that time of the year again. Students are pressed with final papers and semester-end cramming. The faculty is busy with the sadistic ritual of conjuring final exams from the nether world.
And the administration is greasing the old bone. While we are looking the other way the administration is planning to slid in a twelve percent tuition increase, despite the report at the February 22 SGA meeting that tuition would be held to a 7.6% increase.This isn't something new. They slipped us the bone last year with flat-rate tuition. The year before something else. Every year, as the students are gearing up for summer, the administration is gearing up to make some major change without student input. Or any input, for that matter.
Eickhoff and the Board of Trustees have consistently run roughshod over governance policies and they apparently cannot be held accountable.
So what can we do? Nothing. The administration doesn't give two shits about what the individual student thinks. They don't care what the collective students think. The student body is a blood bank for vampire machinations of a fatuous, prestige-seeking Cyclops with an astigmatism.
Their plans are set. Twelve percent tuition increase. $500+ next year and more the year after. There is no stopping them. They don't have contingency plans. The capital plan goes through and we pay for it. They buy houses left and right, the plan to build new buildings (including a very nice reception center, so that when they book the campus for conventions, the nice people from all over can be nicely received).
The greatest concern of the man in the big chair (the prez) is that everything looks nice for the brochures. Just so it all looks good on his resume, so that when he goes upstairs to get a real job, he will be nicely received.
Community of Scholars
Let us share the dream. A community of scholars would live together, work together, study together, learn together and grow together--all right here in picturesque Ewing. There would be an intense atmosphere of community to strengthen the scholarly experience available at Trenton State. People would be under less stress and they could pool resources with greater facility. All things conducive to the endeavor of education would abound in our happy little community of scholars. Utopia.
So, that's the goal. How shall we reach it? Don't worry, there's a plan.
Raise admission standards by requiring higher SAT scores, despite the social, economic and gender biases inherent in this test. But will this weed out all the undesirable elements from our community of scholars? Well, we're not done.
Raise tuition. This shouldn't be a problem for the upper-middle-class whiz kids who aced their SATs and have upper-middle-class parents to pay for their schooling. But what about those grunts who have to work their way through college? We've got that covered too.
Squeeze out night students, off campus students and non-traditional students. Increase the cost of parking on campus and restrict parking privileges. Cut back on night courses. Hell, why don't we cut back on places to socialize on campus while we're at it? These people are just coming for practical educations anyway. What can we do about that?
Stress the school of Liberal Arts over the schools of Education, Technology, Business and Nursing. Liberal Arts is the only program for true scholars--none of this low-minded career oriented crap for us, thank you. It's not important to us that the average Liberal Arts major is unemployed six months out of college. They can expect a whopping $18,000 when they start their careers as opposed to, say, a chemical engineer, who can expect around $30,000.
So where does that leave us? Fewer students, fewer courses, and much higher tuition. Well, we're rolling in dough, what should we do?
Build new stuff.
9 May 1989
'Public Ivy'
- Work Experience:
1988 (Summer) Helped parents refinish summer home in Vermont.
1982 (Summer) Worked for several weeks at father's country club. Education:
1987-Present Princeton University
1983-1987 Princeton Day School Extracurricular Activities:
1987-1988 Princeton University Rowing Team
1986-1987 Princeton Day School Varsity Rowing Team
1985-1986 Princeton Day School Junior Varsity Rowing Team
Is this what they mean by Ivy? Will they develop special scholarships to bring in Biffs and Skippys to bolster the TSC polo team and drink Perrier in Decker? Will we get to rub elbows and make lasting ties with the privileged class and get jobs in international finance because we had Spanish for a year-and-a-half in high school and got the chance to puke on the carpet of the president of the company's rug during an exclusive party thrown by his spoiled son who goes to Trenton State on the "Distinguished Scholarship" sponsored by the administration to attract upper-middle class students to enhance the "Public Ivy" image of the college?
Or is this a public school first? A school designed to serve the regular working class student. The one who works to pay for school and can't go to school during the day because she's coming back to school after raising three kids and has a full-time job that she can't leave because she has the pressing need to eat sometimes and make payments on the mortgage and the '83 Buick that her ex-husband left behind when he took off with a snot-nosed Princeton bitch who was "just doing research for her sociology thesis on blue-collar mid-life crisis."
I think the answers are clear, at least to the students of Trenton State. Maybe it's time certain people upstairs took off their ivy-colored glasses and looked at the needs of the actual students of the actual public institution that we actually have the privilege to attend.
Expansionism
Although we have a tightening State budget, understaffed facilities, underpaid teachers, an under-stocked library and dilapidated dorms, we are buying outlying territories as they come to market.
The college owns some thirty houses along Pennington and on the other side of the lake. We own the empty lot across from the front entrance, we bought the soccer fields on Green Lane and we already have designs on the (soon to be former) Ewing Municipal Building.
We are planning to build a huge dorm (?) where Phelps will soon used to be. And a reception center (!) in place of Dean Field (the grass football field). A dorm wouldn't hurt, but nearly half the students here choose to live off campus, and I haven't met the student whose education has suffered from a crushing lack of centralized reception at TSC.
The state isn't paying for this stuff. The state doesn't have enough money to finance two-ply toilet paper in the State House. We, the hapless students of Trenton State, will pay for it. At least $260 apiece next year. At least twice that the year after.
A who is all this stuff for? The students who pay for it? My ass. The college owns thirty houses. Pete Mills got one. Man, the Greeks don't even get rocks. We have administrators in our own student center. Where will it end?
Historically, the great states created by those distinguished expansionists collapsed in on themselves as swiftly as they rose. Mindless expansion may pass as direction for a while. But not long.
16 May 1989
Just leave
We also lose our news editor, Diane Ostrowski, whose enthusiasm for the position fueled her through most of the first week, while stress fueled her for the remainder of the semester. She will definitely be missed because we need at least five women to play co-rec softball.
I am also obliged to congratulate the new editorial board. They are: Hal Kay, Editor-in-Chief (ouch); Joe Lewin, Sports Editor (ouch, ouch); and Donna Gregory, who switches to Production Manager. Kim Palmer was the first appointee of the new regime and she will serve as Ad Manager.
Way to go. Don't hurt anybody.
Last Word
In my time as editor I can't say that I have ever been satisfied with an issue of the paper, but I have been quite satisfied with our progress. We have said some things that needed to be said and some that haven't. More importantly, you, the students, have said things. Things like, "No more over-priced books," and, "Don't take our night courses away," and, "Don't jerk us around just because we're students."
And more important than that, you have been heard. Maybe not heeded in all cases, but defiantly heard.
That is the mandate of The Signal--to give the students of TSC a voice. And it has been my mandate to get you to speak. If that meant offending, inspiring, instigating, or outright insulting, I was ready to do it. We must never forget that freedom, no matter what guarantee it comes with, must be taken by an act of will. Freedom cannot be forced on unwilling wankers.
And, as this college is merely a microcosm of the real world, you'll find that the problems you find here will be all the bigger out there. There is far more to college that going to classes and being injected with excellence. You have the opportunity to learn how to affect your environment. If you don't learn it here, you may never get the chance.
I admit I may come down hard on our distinguished institution. But do not mistake my criticism for malice--it rises from loyalty--to the school, and to the principles of democracy. I wouldn't have wasted my time if I felt it wouldn't have made a difference. And neither would Ben Franklin, or Thomas Jefferson. Nor George Washington or John Adams.
But I have said my piece and it is time to move on. I retire with my regrets and leave the paper to an eager young staff. I leave the paper to the less jaded, those more willing to make mistakes and take chances. I leave it a little better off than I found it and so I am proud.
So what. Big deal.