Category: Stevens

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Stevens: Pellet and Hand Gun Policy

I didn’t realize that pellet guns were a growing problem on campus but maybe it just shows I’m out of touch being off campus. I guess its an appropriate response certainly after the bomb scare last April which had the campus on edge until the issue was resolved. 

I just received this campus-wide email from the Department of Student Development and Campus Police:

Pellet guns and similar “firearms” are prohibited items by university policy and not permitted on campus or in affiliated facilities.   Affiliated faculties include all Greek houses; off campus housing managed by the Office of Residence Life; and any other locations where university operations are conducted.   Any student found in possession of a pellet gun or other firearm will be suspended or expelled from the university.    In New Jersey a “firearm” is defined as a gun, device, or instrument which fires a solid projectable ball, slug, pellet, missile or, bullet.

Pellet guns are dangerous as evidenced by the recent accidental shooting death in Bergen County, NJ.   In addition, many permanent injuries, including loss of sight, are attributed to pellet gun use.   In New Jersey, a permit is required to purchase a pellet gun.   In other states, such as New York, pellet guns can be easily purchased without a permit.   With a permit or not, pellet guns are prohibited by university policy.

Pellet guns in any of the locations described above must be removed immediately and permanently.   Pellet guns can be also disposed of, without penalty, by bringing the firearm to Campus Police headquarters located in the Gate House.

Stevens is a safe campus and the removal of any remaining pellet guns will insure that no unfortunate accident occurs.

Thank you for your cooperation.

 

Also it was good to see Stevens start a SMS alert program and for anyone interested in signing up, visit Campus Alerting.

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Conference Championship Sunday

Unfortunately I’ll be in Hoboken webcasting two empire8.tv basketball games in the early parts of the afternoon from about noon to 4 pm but I hope to be out in time to come home and watch the playoff games today.

Nothing like rooting for a kid who went to college near you (Ray Rice – RU) and wanting him to succeed on the big stage. I’ll be going Eagles and Ravens to be playing in the Super Bowl.

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Team On A Mission

This is an article I wrote for The Stute prior to the Final Four weekend and certainly I will be writing one about this weekend shortly, but here is the previous one.

“We are 5-3-2 in the NCAA Tournament over the past five seasons, so as a program we are looking to take the next step and reach the national semifinals for the first time.”

Those were the words of Men’s soccer coach Tim O’Donohue (7th season – 132-16-17) in the season preview release way back in August. The Ducks have gone 2-0-2, with 2 dramatic penalty kick wins two weeks ago here in Hoboken to reach that national semifinal for the first time.

Although the season is far from over with the Ducks still having the possibility of playing two of the biggest games in program history, they have already had quite a season. They started things off by defeating Redlands University from California, then ranked #8 in the country, by a 2-1 margin which would be the first of five consecutive wins the Ducks had to start the season. That start would push the team to a #5 ranking of all teams in D-III soccer but that would be as high as they would get as the Ducks because facing Swarthmore, a ranked opponent for the second time that week proved to be a little too much as they went down 2-0.

The loss stopped Stevens’ home unbeaten streak at 62 games going back to a October 2002 loss to United States Merchant Marine Academy. Since the loss on September 13th, the Ducks have lost only one game in their last 19 contests including a stretch of seven straight shutouts – six of which came in either the Empire8 Championship tournament or the NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer Championship. To date, Stevens’ defense has allowed 1 goal in 400 minutes in the NCAA tournament.

Going up against Amherst in the semifinal, the Ducks enter the matchup with an impressive 18-2-4 record and have truly gotten here through a complete team effort. The first round was a lone goal by Todd Sheridan that put the Ducks past Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The following day it was two crucial goals by Nolan Sandberg that propelled the Stevens squad to the regional semifinals for the fifth time in six years.

Then came the weekend in Hoboken.

It would turn out to be “Pandemonium in Hoboken” as the play-by-play announcer for Stevens Athletics and Empire8.tv Matt Fitzsimmons would proclaim after senior captain Craig Moquin knocked home the final penalty shot against defending national champions Middlebury Panthers. The Ducks were still dancing and the fans had stormed the field on back to back nights in probably one of the most memorable sports weekends for Hoboken in recent history.

The Ducks scored 1 goal in 220 minutes of game time. After keeping the game scoreless and constantly battling off a relentless attack by Johns Hopkins in the sectional semifinal, the Ducks were able to advance on remarkable goalkeeping by sophomore sensation Zach Carr who saved four out of the five penalty shots he faced.

The national semifinal on Saturday, December 5th against Amherst is scheduled to start off at approximately 1:30 PM following the 11 AM matchup featuring Messiah College and Loras College – both of those teams advanced to the national semifinals in 2007. The NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer Championship Final is scheduled for the following day.

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Higher Education Act Loan Forgiveness

For those of us who are studying/graduating after concentrating in the field of applied science, technology, engineering or mathematics along with plenty of other fields that can be found at with the entire text of the amendment and extension the Higher Education Act of 1965 – more specifically pages 160 to 162.

I have quoted some of the text from the Act that shows that you are entitled to no more than $2,000 in loan forgiveness per academic or calendar year and a total amount of $10,000 over the years as long as you are a full time employee in one of the fields.

Just something useful to note as many of my classmates are reaching graduation this year along with those reaching it in the few years or even the recent graduates.

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), for each school, academic, or calendar year of full-time employment in an area of national need described in subsection (b) that a borrower completes on or after the date of enactment of the Higher Education Opportunity Act, the Secretary shall forgive not more than $2,000 of the student loan obligation of the borrower that is outstanding after the completion of each such school, academic, or calendar year of employment, respectively.

‘‘(2) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The Secretary shall not forgive more than $10,000 in the aggregate for any borrower under this section, and no borrower shall receive loan forgiveness under this section for more than five years of service.

‘‘(14) STEM EMPLOYEES.—The individual is employed fulltime in applied sciences, technology, engineering, or mathematics.

Thanks to my buddy Joseph Sullivan for pointing this out to me earlier in the day (yes it’s 9 AM and I said earlier in the day).

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Pandemonium in Hoboken

In the famous words of Matt Fitzsimmons that was heard during the most watched telecast in Empire 8 TV history, there was “Pandemonium in Hoboken” last night as the Stevens Ducks knocked off the defending D-III Men’s Soccer Champions in Middlebury Panthers in dramatic penalty kicks fashion. The Ducks now proceed to face Amherst in the national semi-finals which are to be played December  5th in Greensboro, North Carolina and the final is played the following day at the same site.

For an in-depth recap of last night’s remarkable sectional final between two of the top-5 defenses in the country, go and read Rob Kulish’s recap on StevensDucks.com. It just seems fitting where a Middlebury team that won it all last year despite scoring a goal in the Final Four (both games were scoreless ties from what I remember that went to PKs) lost their first NCAA game since 2006 on a scoreless tie. The Ducks scored only 1 goal in 220 minutes of playing time and still somehow managed to advance to the national semi-finals.

Hopefully I will be in North Carolina in two weeks and get to broadcast the Ducks game against Amherst but for those of you who are located on the campus of Stevens Institute of Technology and want to see yesterday’s game, it is available on SITTV’s website: (Men’s Soccer vs. Middlebury NCAA Sectional Final)