{"id":211417,"date":"2020-04-16T12:54:41","date_gmt":"2020-04-16T16:54:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/?p=211417"},"modified":"2021-09-20T10:59:53","modified_gmt":"2021-09-20T14:59:53","slug":"distance-cant-keep-them-apart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/2020\/04\/16\/distance-cant-keep-them-apart\/","title":{"rendered":"Distance Can\u2019t Keep Them Apart"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>How do college students connect when they must be physically distant? Turns out, when they tune in, Zoom in and plug in, there\u2019s actually quite a lot.<\/p>\n<p>With stay-at-home orders to limit the spread of the coronavirus, Montclair State students are getting creative and staying connected by posting on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and other popular social media sites.<\/p>\n<p>The screen time is helping them get a sense of normalcy back. \u201cWe live in a time where we can do things like this. We can do video calls, we can game together, we can FaceTime together,\u201d said Kaya Maciak, a sophomore Communication and Media Arts major.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"responsive-image-holder wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"mlt-responsive-image\" data-original-image=\"\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2020\/04\/Screen-Shot-2020-04-09-at-4.33.52-PM.jpg\" src=\"\/responsive-media\/cache\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2020\/04\/Screen-Shot-2020-04-09-at-4.33.52-PM.jpg.0.1x.generic.jpg\" alt=\"Kaya Maciak\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kaya Maciak, a sophomore Communication and Media Arts major, signs off from \u201cThe Morning Buzz.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>The Voice of Montclair State<\/h2>\n<p>Ending a recent broadcast of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=aiwvRLwPVUA\">\u201cMorning Buzz the Quarantined Edition\u201d<\/a> with an online dance party, Maciak added a plug for 90.3 WMSC-FM, \u201cWe can collaborate on the radio!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The station is just one of the campus organizations that have found ways to stay connected. With Montclair State students completing the end of this academic year with online classes, many are trying to stay as active as possible with their college clubs, sports and friends.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think you can have a true college experience from your own house,\u201d said Casey Coleman \u201914, coordinator of student activities for the Center for Student Involvement. \u201cIt&#8217;s about adjusting, adapting and finding your way\u201d \u2013 even if that means broadcasting the news from your bedroom.<\/p>\n<p>WMSC-FM stays on the air via Zoom. \u201cThe beauty of this new innovative way of doing radio is that we can also take the video live to our YouTube page and Facebook,\u201d said General Manager Anabella Poland, the station\u2019s faculty adviser. Weekend shows broadcast over Instagram Live and Twitch.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Video: Montclair News Lab April 3, 2020\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dfaYVeE_DiI?feature=oembed\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen style=\"width: 500px; height: 281px; border: 0px solid #000;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=dfaYVeE_DiI&amp;feature=youtu.be\">Montclair News Lab<\/a> is also broadcasting from homes, its first remote episode\u00a0 examining how the global pandemic \u201cis affecting our lives, and the lives of those around us.\u201d This included an interview with a student recovering from COVID-19 and how newly employed graduates have seen their jobs upended by the crisis.<\/p>\n<p>Taylor Risley, a junior majoring in Television and Digital Media, provided a day-in-the-life of what it\u2019s like to be one of the few students still living on campus. Risley works as a resident assistant in Machuga Heights, where some of the 450 students who remain on campus are living. In her piece for the Montclair News Lab, Risley says she spends most of her time in her dorm room, Zooming in for classes, playing virtual Jeopardy and perfecting her TikTok dance moves.<\/p>\n<p>For students missing the rituals of the spring semester, and especially the seniors disappointed by the postponement of Commencement and the cancellation of special events, putting their energy and creativity into the videos has lessened the sting.<\/p>\n<p>Senior dance majors raised the video barre, recording a virtual \u201clast\u201d performance of their spring showcase, Martha Graham&#8217;s \u201cRitual to the Sun\u201d from <em>Acts of Light<\/em>. The dancers move across their lawns or kitchens, wherever they could find the space, performing the choreography they have been rehearsing for months before COVID-19 canceled their show at the University Partners Showcase in New York City.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven though we may be all stuck remotely in our homes, we had the ability to harness the amazing power of dance, along with the use of some technology, and create something that can bring joy in a time of uncertainty,\u201d said Alfonse Napolitano, a senior earning his BFA\/BA in Dance and certification in Dance Education, who edited the piece and collaborated with senior Dance major Olivia Passarelli on the project.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Video: Ritual to the Sun from Acts of Light\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-G3OPWtklzY?feature=oembed\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen style=\"width: 500px; height: 281px; border: 0px solid #000;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>Clubs Go Digital<\/h2>\n<p>Taking part in student activities is a big part of the Montclair State experience, and now even at home, many are remaining active participants.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBefore all this happened it always felt like you were going to get out of a situation, what you put into it,\u201d Coleman said. \u201cI tell new students, \u2018Even Disneyland would be boring if you only stayed in the parking lot.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"prpl-row\"><div class=\"prpl-column two-thirds\">\n<p>In trying to make some \u201cmagical moments,\u201d the Center for Student Involvement has moved everything online. \u201cSome of the things we are doing might feel silly but we want people to de-stress. We want them to laugh,\u201d Coleman said. This has included spirit week, and cooking and baking tutorials. Through Instagram stories, students are voting on the best cereal of all time, with the intention of raising awareness on the importance of registering to vote.<\/p>\n<p>The SGA election included an online candidate debate that saw more participation than ever before. \u201cThe process wouldn&#8217;t have been possible if we did not already live in a digital age where transitioning online is an easy step to adapt to,\u201d said Andrew Moya, a sophomore majoring in Animation the SGA executive vice president-elect.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGetting involved gives students a sense of community, friendship and values that they might not get or have at home, said Student Communications Manager Hannah Wiese \u201913. \u201cMaybe they found themselves at Montclair State and called it their home.\u201d <\/p><\/div><div class=\"prpl-column one-third\">\n<figure class=\"responsive-image-holder wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"mlt-responsive-image\" data-original-image=\"\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2020\/04\/Screen-Shot-2020-04-09-at-9.09.09-PM.jpg\" src=\"\/responsive-media\/cache\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2020\/04\/Screen-Shot-2020-04-09-at-9.09.09-PM.jpg.0.1x.generic.jpg\" alt=\"SGA Executive Board Elects\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">With voting taking place online, new Student Government officers were elected.<br \/><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/p><\/div>\n<h2>Apps Bring Them Together<\/h2>\n<p>Zoom, the video-chatting app has exploded in popularity in the pandemic. Alexa Vreeland, a senior Exercise Science Pre-Clinical major, connects with friends for a weekly card game. Julia Radley, a sophomore studying Communication and Media Studies, celebrated her birthday with a bunch of Zoomers.<\/p>\n<p>Then there are the date night movies on Netflix Party. Video chats. Musical performances by students at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/2020\/03\/27\/the-beat-goes-on-virtually\/\">John J. Cali School of Music<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Missing sports? The Student Recreation Center is providing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/campus-recreation\/virtual-programming\/\">virtual programs and online fitness workouts, <\/a>including cardio kickboxing, Zumba and yoga, to help students maintain their physical and mental well-being.<\/p>\n<p>Montclair State\u2019s field hockey team found a way to stay active and raise the awareness of social distancing with the viral \u201cToilet Paper Challenge.\u201d In their Instagram video, teammates show off their skills virtually passing a roll of toilet paper from player to player. Creative editing combines their video clips to make the play seamless.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was so funny to see what my teammates could come up \u2013 (running backwards on a treadmill, adding pet goats to the scene) \u2013 and it was nice to \u2018be together\u2019 without being together, if that makes sense,\u201d said Keeley Winn, a senior majoring in Family Science and Human Development.<\/p>\n<p>Even the school mascot, Rocky the Red Hawk, is using Zoom and social media to maintain a sense of normalcy for students while social distancing from his \u201cnest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With a little help from his Team Rocky friends Daniel Waffenfeld &#8217;17, a Student Communications graduate assistant, and Paul McGroarty, a graduating senior film major, Rocky posted a video showing how he is staying virtually connected with his friends, the other university mascots.<\/p>\n<p>Rocky filmed the video and is working on other surprises for the campus community, says Waffenfeld, \u201cto help cheer up the student body, staff and faculty during these challenging times.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Video: Mascot Friends Unite Against COVID-19\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/e2YqsY1U5dc?feature=oembed\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen style=\"width: 500px; height: 281px; border: 0px solid #000;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>Silver Linings<\/h2>\n<p>In the midst of the pandemic, Montclair State\u2019s student media have picked up a number of significant awards.<\/p>\n<p>The student newspaper, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/2020\/04\/14\/award-winning-montclarion-takes-reporting-digital-during-pandemic\/\"><em>The Montclarion<\/em>,<\/a> which continues publishing by switching to an all-digital format, recently won 10 New Jersey Press Foundation awards.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"responsive-image-holder wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"mlt-responsive-image\" data-original-image=\"\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2020\/04\/Screen-Shot-2020-04-09-at-9.06.00-PM-1.jpg\" src=\"\/responsive-media\/cache\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2020\/04\/Screen-Shot-2020-04-09-at-9.06.00-PM-1.jpg.0.1x.generic.jpg\" alt=\"WMSC-FM\u2019s Station Manager Hiral Patel, who was recently named Intercollegiate Broadcasting System\u2019s \u201cBest Station Manager in the Nation,\u201d staying safe (in a photo taken before the majority of students left campus to finish the semester at home).\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">WMSC-FM\u2019s Station Manager Hiral Patel, who was recently named Intercollegiate Broadcasting System\u2019s \u201cBest Station Manager in the Nation,\u201d staying safe (in a photo taken before the majority of students left campus to finish the semester at home).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>WMSC-FM\u2019s Station Manager Hiral Patel, who was recently named Intercollegiate Broadcasting System\u2019s \u201cBest Station Manager in the Nation,\u201d staying safe (in a photo taken before the majority of students left campus to finish the semester at home).<\/p>\n<p>WMSC-FM\u2019s Station Manager Hiral Patel, a senior majoring in Political Science, was awarded first place from the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System, being named &#8220;Best Station Manager in the Nation.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The crisis has helped her \u201cunderstand that there are ways to stay connected with your community and people even during tough times,\u201d Patel said. \u201cLife is about taking risks. If you really say you want something, then go get it, do not make excuses for yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Story by Staff Writer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/profilepages\/view_profile.php?username=lehrenma\">Marilyn Joyce Lehren<\/a><\/p>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\/\/ Output tags as a list for Google Analytics custom dimension\nwindow.MSU_TagList = [];\n<\/script>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Students find ways to connect online to socialize, stay fit and maintain a sense of &#8216;campus life&#8217;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":211423,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[123,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-211417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homepage-news","category-university"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=211417"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211417\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":216078,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211417\/revisions\/216078"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/211423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}