Student Panel for Disability Awareness Month
On Oct. 11, Ramapo’s Office of Specialized Services (OSS) held a panel discussion where students were able to speak about their experiences with disabilities. Organized by Abbe Benowitz, a disability counselor with OSS, the panel serves as a part of OSS’s events to honor and celebrate National Disability Awareness Month.
“We have found the student panel to be very informative,” said Dr. David C. Nast, director of OSS. “The panel seems to be thought-provoking because it is Ramapo students sharing their experience.”
– Jessica Hammer
jhammer@ramapo.edu
Edgar Kunz Poetry Reading
Poet Edgar Kunz visited to begin this year’s Readings at Ramapo series on Oct.12. He shared content from his newest book “Fixer” which focuses on various topics from testing snack dips to dealing with loss.
He shared “Day Moon,” “Tester,” “Model,” “Good Deal” and “Squatters.” “Tester” and “Model” recount experiences with odd jobs, like being a gas station model. However, others like “Day Moon” and “Squatters” tell more intimate stories, the first discussing a break up and the second leading into the next section of the book focusing on his late father.
From there, he shared a few poems from this section that have secret titles. The titles are hidden since they can be read as one longer story, capturing Kunz in a fit of imagery as he processes his father’s passing.
“The details are all I have…I love images. It’s all I think about, it’s all I write,” he said.
– Peyton Bortner
pbortner@ramapo.edu
52 Hour Film Challenge Screening
On Oct. 12, RCTV hosted the screening for their semesterly 52 Hour Film Challenge. The challenge dares student filmmakers to create a short film of any length over a weekend that must incorporate a specific genre, prop and line of dialogue decided by the e-board. For this semester, the challenge occurred from Oct. 6-8 with the criteria being romantic comedy, a banana and “do I have to make an appointment?”
This time, the challenge garnered two entries from juniors Daynah Stockwell and Jessica Gonzalez. Stockwell’s told a love story between her pet cat, Bella, and a stuffed cat while Gonzalez’s followed a young woman developing a crush on a man in her apartment building.
Stockwell explained that the genre requirement is what led her to include the stuffed cat as the love interest. Since her cat was a readily-available subject, it fit perfectly with a pre-established joke she has about Bella having a boyfriend. “There’s a cat on TikTok… I always say he’s Bella’s boyfriend because they are both long-hair cats,” she said.
Stockwell took home the first-place prize, earning her a $100 gift card. Gonzalez received a $75 gift card for second place.
– Rebecca Gathercole
rgatherc@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of Ariana Mygatt
