THE INDEPENDENT VOICE OF KEAN UNIVERSITY DIABETES PASS THE MANNERS, PLEASE! Page 8 A CAUSE FOR CONCERN? Page 3 THE FOOTBALL OBAMA & FAMILY Page 12 CONNECTION NO CHEERS CASTING A WIDER WEB FOR KEAN Page 3 Page 9 ONLINE LEARNING TAKES HOLD Page 2 TTHE TOWER Volume 9 • Issue 5 Nov. 19-Dec. 2, 2008 history of dreams, New Spring Schedule Confuses Students avenue of Success By Kelly Nemeth depending on their configuration, and Based on staff reports class times can overlap. The student hour —time set aside for student activities— Writer Nikki Sherman tudents are saying that registering has also been shortened and moved for classes this fall has been confus- visits midtown Elizabeth S from Monday and Wednesday to Monday ing and isn’t nearly as easy as it was in the and Thursday. and discovers a vibrant past due to the new class schedule that “I had to write up about four different will take effect in January. community filled with schedules before finding one that can fit Registering opened for students in Oc- into my work schedule,” said Senior Eng- people reaching for the tober and students had a first look at what lish major Robert Pereira. the rest of their time at Kean University American dream. There are, however, some students who will look like under the new plan. do not feel affected at all. They are mainly Take a stroll through “Scheduling was difficult, because just seniors who have already finished most of when you thought you had something that midtown Elizabeth. See their major electives and General Educa- worked, you found out that it didn’t,” said tion classes, and are now focusing on free centerfold Sophomore Sarah Jones. “Times overlap electives. creating difficulty in making a good sched- ule. Also a lot of the classes are later for some reason; there aren’t that many early “i just ThoughT iT waS really classes. Earlier classes are easier because then I can work in the afternoon. I will CoNFuSiNg”—a FreShmaN Nu Sigma Phi returns to Campus only be on campus four days next semes- ter still.” “I didn’t get to choose which electives With the economy in distress, many of I wanted, but I chose ones that fit in to By Dawn M. Phillips In its time, Nu Sigma Phi donated thou- the students interviewed said they are the time slots I wanted,” said senior Kris- sands of dollars to the American Heart struggling to accommodate school and tina Haugen. “I don’t have any classes on “Brotherhood through the ages” is Association, and was a major donor to work schedules -- never an easy task. Fridays and that was all I was worried the motto of the Greek fraternity Nu the Kean Ambulance Squad on campus. It Many also complained of the extra time about.” Sigma Phi. also offered a used bookstore on campus, and expense of coming to campus on a Yvette Maano, a senior English major, Now, it is showing its motto to be true. where students could trade off books for fourth or fifth day. But most are manag- felt the new schedule had no impact. Fifteen years after the Greek non-sectarian cash, and the proceeds were donated to ing, although not always happily. “I am only taking one class next semes- fraternity founded in 1939 was disbanded, organizations. Nu Sigma Phi also was very Said Sarah Boruch, a sophomore math ter, Senior Writing Seminar, so it doesn’t it has been reinstated on campus. supportive in the development of the East education major: “I am a commuter so I really affect me,” she said. “I handed in my “We hope this fraternity will be close- Campus where it ran various pep rallies. want don’t want to go five days a week petition right away and was able to regis- knit,” Michael Delicio, a 1982 Psychol- But in 1993, Nu Sigma Phi was suspend- I want to go four. It took forever for ter for the class I wanted the next day.” ogy Kean and Nu Sigma Phi alumnus who ed for recruiting violations and later dis- me to figure out a schedule especially The upper classmen tend to have it led the program to bring back the frat. banded. Despite the discontinuance, 150 with the times. Now my work schedule easier than the freshman and sophomore “For me it’s been a lifelong journey; my members remain active including Delicio. is conflicted.” classes. The juniors and seniors have al- closest friends are my frat brothers. We In May 2007 while on campus, Delicio The new schedule includes a variety of ready taken most of their general educa- are passionate.” walked by the Greek Senate office and ad- combinations, but the changes for stu- tion classes and now are focusing more on Nu Sigma Phi prides itself as the first all- mired the fraternity and sorority banners dents mostly include more classes on major requirements while the freshman inclusive fraternity at a time when mostly posted. He reminisced of Nu Sigma Phi, Fridays, and three day a week classes— and sophomores are the ones who are fac- scholastic, ethnic or religious fraternities and wondered “What if?” mostly for underclassmen—hat meet on ing Monday-Wednesday-Friday change existed. At Nu Sigma, all races, creeds and His internal questioning led him to Monday-Wednesday-Friday the most. colors have always been accepted. speak with Valerie (Continued on page 4) Classes also run for different lengths When a student has (Continued on page 4) iNQUIRINg PHOTOGRAPHER: What do you think of the recent election of Barak Obama as President? Wilmer Arcela, Alesandrina Canelo, Beth Lugra, Federico Marmolevo, Junior, Criminal Justice Major Sophomore, Biology Major Senior, Public Communications Major Junior, Management Major “I think he will be a good president. I “I think it is something different that “I think Obama getting elected is going “Overall, I think it was time for a think he will show that a black man we need. We have the opportunity to to give the country a boost. It shows change. I was tired of the presidency can do his best just as well as a white make a change in education, in the that change is possible.” of Bush.” man can.” economy, and in the war.” The Tower iS Now oN The web! FiNd a PdF verSioN oF The Tower aT: www.kean.edu/~thetower NOVEMBER 19, 2008 2 TTHE TOWER FACULTY PROFILE ProfEssor susanna Rich briNgs literature tO lifE By Raquel Fernandes manuscripts. To see a two hundred year old manuscript a quarter of an inch away from you is very compelling. There’s a sense of awe when you’re so close to a rel- It’s hard to see things if you don’t know what they look like. ic. The drawings and the edgings were so fresh, the painting was so fresh that it For Susanna Rich, Professor of English at Kean University, seeing things first looked like the paint wasn’t wet yet, and yet we also walked into a Kerouac exhibit hand is an integral part of teaching. Dr. Rich believes that experiencing something where his On The Road scroll, [Kerouac’s novel was originally typed on a continuous is the best way to understand. Thus, it’s no surprise that her 120 foot scroll of paper] was displayed and that paper was writing and literature classes take field trips that connect falling apart.” classroom knowledge with the heartbeat of experience. Dr. Rich is not the typical lecture professor. Rich incites “When I teach writing, I talk to students about immedia- independent thought, and thrives on classroom interac- cy and about hands on research,” said Rich. “I feel that there tion, between the students and each other, and the stu- are things you can learn about that you can’t learn from just dents and her. looking at pictures - there are certain things that you really “I really believe in learning as a communal activity, so my have to see firsthand.” classes are very much community oriented,” said Rich. “I Last semester, Dr. Rich took her Emily Dickinson class on encourage bonding between my students and, of course, a three-day trip to Amherst, Mass. to see the home of poet I bond with them. I don’t come in insisting that students Emily Dickinson. In class, students had been discussing think a certain way. I don’t come in with a prescribed set Dickinson’s poetry, and had seen pictures of her. But visit- of things that students need to give back to me. The class- ing the house where she lived, seeing her room, and other room is about students learning who they are and using things this young poet saw on a daily basis, galvanizes her literature as a root to that. We discover things together.” work, said Rich. In addition to teaching, Dr. Rich is an author and poet. “When you’re together for three or four days, there’s a Her work has appeared in dozens of publications inter- deeper bonding and an understanding,” said Rich. “There nationally, notably English Journal, The Evansville Review, are lifelong friendships and literary connections that stu- Feminist Studies, Nimrod, Phoebe (both Fairfax and One- dents make when they do something together like that. For onta), Pilvax (Budapest), Porcupine, Southern California Re- Dr. Susanna Rich, professor of English and author of many people it’s like the experience of a lifetime. There we view, Tiferet, VerseDaily.org, Urthona (UK), Willow Review, Television Daddy. were, at her graveyard with a full moon, the bells tolling, and Zone 3.