Since We Saw You Last…

Campus goes to the dogs…and cats, the resurgence of comfy crazy, the Jersey Shore comes to campus, and high praise for curbing high-risk drinking.

Words by TCNJ's editorial staff

CAMPUS GOES TO THE DOGS…AND CATS

Faculty and staff members brought their pets to campus in May to help stressed-out students take a break from studying for finals. Research shows that interacting with animals can lower your blood pressure and heart rate, says psychology professor and therapy dog owner and handler Jean Kirnan. And who couldn’t benefit from both of those things after pulling a caffeine-infused all-nighter?

THE RESURGENCE OF COMFY CRAZY

If you came of age in the ’80s, you might lovingly recall—or shudder to think of—Skidz, those baggy pants with the bold patterns that seemingly everyone was  wearing by decade’s end. Well, they’re back—sort of. Juniors Shea Paytas and Tom Athan started making the similarly styled Dudz pants and selling them out of their dorm room last fall, igniting a mini campus fashion craze in the process. Now the retro look might be catching on internationally: The students recently shipped a pair to a customer in London.

THE JERSEY SHORE COMES TO CAMPUS

It’s rare to see funnel cakes on campus, but they were here in June when several parking lots were transformed into a Jersey Shore boardwalk for the 2014 Special Olympics USA Games. The college housed the Games’ athletes and served as the site of Olympic Town, a seaside-themed amusement park featuring skee-ball, rides and even a mini-beach. The only thing missing was that incessant reminder to “Watch the tramcar, please.”

HIGH PRAISE FOR CURBING HIGH-RISK DRINKING

The college received a 2014 Award of Excellence from the TIPS (Training for Intervention ProcedureS) Program, a nationally recognized program that teaches students how to reduce high-risk drinking behavior among their peers. TCNJ was one of only five institutions in the country to receive the distinction. It was selected based on the collaborative model it uses, the volume of students it certifies and feedback from TIPS trainers and student participants.