page 4 The Signal February 1, 2012
Former Penn State VP hired by the College By Tom Ciccone News Editor
A former vice president of student affairs for Penn State has joined the College’s administrative ranks. R. Barbara Gitenstein, president of the College, announced in a campus-wide email on Jan. 23 that Vicky Triponey will be serving as interim vice president for student affairs. The position was originally vacated by Jim Norfleet, according to the email, and last Thursday, Jan. 26, Triponey officially assumed Norfleet’s position. “(Triponey) comes to TCNJ with extensive and impressive credentials,” Gitenstein wrote. Triponey has held the student affairs position at multiple academic instituitions before coming to the College, including at the University of Connecticut, Wichita State University and Pennsylvania State University. Triponey has also been a board member of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators and was honored by NASPA with a distinguished service award. Her name was drawn from NASPA’s own registry of highly qualified student affairs administrators, said Matt Golden, Vice President of College Relations and
Advancement. Triponey has however been criticized for her “aggressive” management style, and on Sept. 27, 2007, ended her tenure at Penn State University after having multiple disagreements over disciplinary actions with the late-Nittany Lions coach, Joe Paterno. Triponey also received criticism for cutting funding for Penn State’s radio station, changing the allocations of student fees and for reorganizing the student government. Since the recent developments at Penn State concerning the arrest of Jerry Sandusky — the Nittany Lions’ former defensive coordinator and alleged child molester — Triponey has been spotlighted by the media to attempt to delve into the inner-workings of Penn State. Triponey spoke to The Daily Beast about the politics of working at Penn State, and what may have prompted Sandusky to go without punishment for his salacious behavior for such a long period of time. When asked to describe the culture of the university, Triponey said,“I think people, in order to keep their jobs, have had to turn a blind eye.” Despite her controversial tenure at Penn State, Gitenstein spoke warmly of Triponey’s extensive experience. “During her visit to campus, Vice President for Hu-
man Resources Gregory Pogue and I had our initial impressions, that (Triponey) will be a wonderful addition to our community, confirmed. (Triponey) has shared with me her very positive feelings about the Division of Student Affairs and its leadership, even though she was able to meet with only a limited number of individuals and is anxious to get to campus to meet more members of the student body and the division,” Gitenstein said. Triponey spoke on behalf of her new position at the College, saying, “I am honored to be joining the remarkable leadership team that has been assembled, nurtured and inspired by President Gitenstein. It is clear that while becoming one of the top comprehensive colleges in the nation, (the College) has also become a genuinely cohesive and caring community determined to prepare students for a life of learning while cultivating an unwavering commitment to service for the greater good.” Triponey also expressed her excitement to begin working as vice president of student affairs at the College. “I look forward to collaborating with the talented and highly motivated students and with the passionate and dedicated student affairs staff and college faculty who work tirelessly on behalf of students every day,”
N.J. inmates share experiences with P.R.I.D.E. By Natalie Kouba Correspondent
Jess Davis / Staff Photographer
Two inmates spoke at the Project P.R.I.D.E. event, sharing stories and providing advice about avoiding harmful life choices. Project P.R.I.D.E.’s aim is to provide students the opportunity to tutor inmates.
Education is the leading factor to crime prevention and a safer community. Two current prison inmates and two former inmates visited the College’s Mildred and Ernest E. Mayo Concert Hall on Tuesday, Jan. 24 to speak about their accomplishments with Project P.R.I.D.E. (Promoting Responsibility in Drug Education) as well as their experiences in prison. Project P.R.I.D.E. is a program which helps students give back to the community by volunteering their time to tutor inmates. The Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Corrections, Gary Lanigan, spoke about the program as well as NJDOC’s goal to “protect public safety by operating safe facilities and preparing inmates to reenter the community.” Michael Ritter, director of Project P.R.I.D.E., introduced the inmates — all of whom volunteered to participate in the event. Their last names were not disclosed to the audience. Mike, 27, grew up with a “regular childhood” in Trenton. As the eldest of 11 children of divorced parents, he “grew up angry at his father” and never found an effective way to communicate his anger to other people. Although he was “on the right track” through high school, once he got involved with a bad crowd he dropped out and began selling and using drugs.
Stein/ Politicians are in ‘dreamland’
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administration, he said. Despite his political leanings, Stein did not pinpoint one particular party for the disaster. “We (the Republicans) and the Democrats have just been living in cloud-cookoo-dreamland for several decades now — just in dreamland,” he said. “The result has been that we had maybe one trillion (dollars) of deficit at the end of the seventies and now we have 15 trillion of deficit.” Stein focused on the severity of the crisis and its effects on the job market. “The days when people wanted to be entrepreneurs and go into business seem to have vanished and I think that is because of the crisis in employment,” he said. “I have to say I’ve never seen a situation like the present situation for college students ever in my lifetime where it’s a serious crisis to try to get a job.” In his speech, Stein forecast the likelihood of getting a job in a difficult
field to break into. As an example, he said that a dream of becoming an art historian is significantly less likely to be accomplished nowadays. Due to the crisis, Stein noted the change in college students and their aspirations. According to Stein, careers in education, health and government work are now popularly sought after. Stein marked work ethic and connections as the most important factors necessary to attain any job. “Those of you who are the best students, and have the best work habits and have the best connected parents will be the ones who get the jobs,” Stein said. Connections and hard work are exactly what helped Stein go from a trial lawyer practicing at the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C. to a presidential speechwriter. Stein frequently submitted freelance op-ed pieces to the Wall Street Journal, defending Nixon during Watergate. Stein’s
father happened to be the Chairman of the Council of Economic Affairs in the White House, which helped when Stein was invited to speak with the administration after receiving recognition for his articles. Another connection helped Stein become a pop culture sensation, which began the start of a very random assortment of credentials and experiences. He credits “blind luck.” “It never even occurred to me ever — at any time in my life — that I was going to be an actor,” he said. One day, a producer-friend told the economist, “You’re just sort of innately funny” After his first film “Wildlife” — a sequel to “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” — Stein was given a small role in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” “The day I worked on ‘Ferris Bueller’ was the best day of my life,” he said. The success he would find, he said, “was the approximate equivalent of winning a good sized lottery ticket.” In fact, Stein said it was better than that.
At the age of 15, Mike went on juvenile probation, but saw it as “a slap on the wrist.” He now has been incarcerated with a six-year sentence and has not been home since 2007. After Mike realized the effect his actions had on his family, he decided to seek help, earn his G.E.D., and take advantage of the programs the Department of Corrections had to offer. Once he returns home Mike would like to pursue a higher education at a community college and eventually transfer to a four-year university. “It might be right here,” he said, “I might stick around.” Ronnie, 27, was raised in South Philadelphia. As a biracial child attending a largely white school, she “was angry at a very young age”. When she was 12 years old, she became involved in selling drugs through her uncle. Ronnie stopped going to school after she hit her principal and lost a cheerleading scholarship. After selling drugs for 14 years, she was incarcerated, causing her to leave her young daughter at home. Taking AP Literature in high school, she dreamed of becoming an English teacher. Because of her incarceration, this is no longer a possibility for her. After the program, a question and answer session followed and students had the opportunity to sign up for the tutoring program. Upon signing up, sophomore biology major, Raagini Som, stated how it was “inspirational how (Project P.R.I.D.E.) helped the inmates.”
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