A VIEW FROM THE PRESS BOX: SUPREME COURT JUSTICE HONORABLE SONIA SOTOMAYOR VISITS RUTGERS EAGLETON INSTITUTE   bY  Calvin Schwartz    April 13, 2016

Over the years I’ve discovered the mind expansive joys of Rutgers Eagleton Institute of Politics. After one lecture, I told Watergate-famed John Dean, Nixon’s counsel, that he contributed to the break-up of my first marriage because I spent three weeks as a newlywed watching his testimony and nothing else. He laughed and asked if I re-married. I remember lectures with Doris Kearns Goodwin, Governors Whitman and Codey, Michael Beschloss, David Gergen.  Senator Cory Booker was at Eagleton a few weeks ago. Actually Senator Booker called on me for the last question; it was my omnipresent Rutgers hat and “over-abundance of hair” which garnered his attention. When it was announced that Justice Sotomayor was coming on April 11th and registration was at 9 AM on line, I set the alarm for 8 AM. I filled out the form at 9 AM sharp. Seconds later, it was closed out and so was I. The demand to see the Supreme Court Justice was beyond.

Eagleton reacted and moved the venue to the Rutgers Athletic Center(RAC) to accommodate.  I remembered I’m a journalist here at NJ Discover and got press credentials for the event. Arrival was two hours early to set up in the press box yet even that early, you could feel a special air of excitement and still hear echoes in the empty RAC. I walked around absorbing. The doors opened for the spectators; such a diverse and smiling demographic. I knew it wasn’t basketball season or Kansas. This was a special day.

Dr. Barchi, Rutgers President spoke briefly and acknowledged some past Jersey officials. Ruth Mandel, head of Eagleton and Justice Sotomayor walked across the gym floor to the stage and two comfortable chairs. A very skilled eloquent Ruth Mandel began to ask questions.

Justice Sotomayor remarked, “Who I am is an amalgam of experiences.” Mandel asked, “What did you hold onto from early days?”  “I have a Puerto Rican heart….my culture is who I am….my values that I was taught…. love of family, community, country….”  Once I heard her words, I knew she was a very special exceedingly humanistic Justice; a rare precious and beautiful person. This audience was in the presence of greatness. Isn’t it funny how fast you can tell qualities. She was born in the Bronx, went to Princeton and Yale Law.

“Has the court affected people close to you?” She missed that first Christmas; couldn’t leave the court. “Sure it changes you.”  She went on to say, “I studied and studied…. never cut corners with education…. I worry students who are involved in everything…. involved with too much…. should concentrate on passions…. Don’t do any work that you’re not passionate about.” Yes, she was on a college campus with many students listening.

I loved this next segment. Justice Sotomayor mentioned that she doesn’t like sitting for long periods of time and walks slowly but she’d walk into the stands all the way up to the rafters answering questions. “I was called “hot pepper” by my mother. I can’t sit still.”  How wondrously real. She shook hands with some of the appreciative audience. I was in the second level press box; she was three feet away. Yes, thrilling.

“Every night before I go to sleep, I ask what did I learn new today. How did I extend an act of kindness? If I can’t answer, I don’t go to bed…. I go on the internet.” I turned to Dan, Editor of the Rutgers Targum, sitting next and whispered, “A very special person. Wow.”

Fittingly she spoke about more diversity on the Supreme Court can help to better understand the cases but wouldn’t necessarily change outcomes. “In every case we’re announcing a winner. One side comes away vindicated…. One loses…. It makes this job hard.”  I liked the air in the gym; no questioning on prevailing winds of politics and the court. There is a time and place. I just wanted to hear her humanity and personal expressions.  Back on the gym floor, after students asked questions and a photo-op, Ruth Mandel and Justice Sotomayor were quickly gone. I think she had to catch a train.

NOT TO BE MISSED SPECIAL COMING ATTRACTION: New Jersey International Film Festival at Rutgers University: Screening of Joe Basile’s first  film, “WEST END”  Voorhees Hall, Rutgers, New Brunswick, Friday June 6^th 2014 7 PM   By Calvin Schwartz      

To me, in my journalistic world here in central Jersey, I’m always looking for those events and happenings that have the power and magnetism to extricate me from my worn and tattered sedentary part metal sofa and to partake of life in the fullest. When those events materialize, I’m thrilled to report and promulgate them.  Going to a film festival at our State University of New Jersey, Rutgers, in the summer time to see Jersey film maker Joe Basile’s first film, about people and places right here at the Jersey shore is akin to extricative nirvana.

Nirvana I said. I’m thrilled about this event.  You should be too.  Get yourself on campus. Make a day of it.  Get to the Zimmerli Art Musuem, a short walk away from Voorhees. Have lunch or dinner before the movie. New Brunswick has dozens of college town ambiance restaurants and watering places. More nirvana for me; I met Joe Basile last year at the Garden State Film Festival. We talked for an hour; precious time.  I walked away thinking I had just been back to the future and spent the past hour with a young Sylvester Stallone. Joe is dynamic, dedicated, electrified and imbued with a passion for film making and storytelling.  I saw ‘West End’ that day; a riveting, exceptionally and surprisingly well done, wonderfully crafted story of a ‘special’ Jersey (mob) family but with a unique imaginative twist. I love creativity in plot; ‘West End’ delivered. I also love adrenaline stimulation; ‘West End’ delivered that too.  See you on campus on June 6^th.     Calvin Schwartz   5-19-14  1:11pm

For more information:   http://www.westendthemovie.com/

FILM FESTIVAL INFO:  http://www.njfilmfest.com/screening.html#info

FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE:  https://www.facebook.com/events/697700243623605/

STORY LINE:

“WEST END is HAMLET revisited, Jersey style.

It’s been over ten years since Vic Trevi has been home, back to the Jersey Shore. Vic ran away to escape the embarrassment of being a Trevi. It’s not an ideal place to grow up when your mobster father is convicted of racketeering and sent to jail and your name is smeared all over the news.

After his father was sent to jail, Vic’s father’s brother JOHN raised him like his own. Uncle John put Vic through college, through law school – no questions asked. Vic left and never looked back.

Vic returns to Jersey days after his father has been murdered, a mob hit. As much as home seems the same, things have changed. Uncle John now rules the family that once belonged to his father. Vic’s best friend, ANGELO “BUDDY” BUCCELLATO, is married to Vic’s high school sweetheart, LAUREN McKINN. The one thing that hasn’t changed, Vic’s strained relationship with his mother, MARY.

Now, standing on the boardwalk of Seaside Heights, looking out over the Atlantic Ocean, Vic wonders if coming home was the right choice.

There are so many questions that still haunt Vic about his father and family. Will he be able to forgive his mother? Will he reestablish the bond with his Uncle John that was formed after his father went to jail? More importantly – will he find any clues to his father’s murder?

Vic needs to find out the truth about his family before his family finds the truth out about him. Vic is an undercover FBI agent positioned to go against the people he calls family. He’s caught between the age-old struggle between duty to the law and duty to the people he calls family.

As Vic digs deeper, he unearths secrets about his father, mother, uncle, and friends that will change all of their lives forever.”

SCHEDULE FOR JUNE 6TH!!!!!!!!!!

Friday-June 6-Voorhees Hall #105-7PM $10; $9; $8

Free Food courtesy of Jimmy Johns will be given out prior to this screening of the New Jersey Film Festival!

Coney Island Dreams – Andrew Serban (New York, New York)
Maggie is a troubled young immigrant who is at the end of her rope. Desperate to return to her native Ireland, she meets with a mysterious and vaguely sinister older man named Enzo, who offers to pay her plane fare in exchange for one last job: she must lure a young man to a deserted Coney Island street. . . 2014; 24 min. With an introduction and Q+A session by Director Andrew Serban! 

West End – Joe Basile (Los Angeles, California) 

Returning home to the Jersey Shore, after years of absence, Vic Trevi is an undercover FBI agent positioned to go against the people he calls family. Long ashamed of their mafia ties, he now must find the killer who murdered his father. Caught between the age-old struggle of duty to the law versus duty to family, he embarks on an increasingly desperate search to find the truth before his family finds the truth about him. 2013; 86 min. With an introduction and Q+A session by Director Joe Basile!

 A MAJOR COMING ATTRACTION: ‘New Jersey-The State of Invention’ Symposium at Rutgers University June 28^th (free) featuring appearance by inventor (radio) Guglielmo Marconi’s daughter Elletra Marconi  by Calvin Schwartz

Those of you who have been following my writings about musings, journeys and adventures over the past two years for NJ Discover, should know I take great pride in discovering New Jersey and for the most part never sit still. My thinking is there’s ample time down the yellow brick road to sit in front of a television on a sofa with plastic slip covers or on a front porch with a glass of prune juice on the rocks. Point being; there is so much life to be lived. I do report here at NJ Discover’s website often on events which I believe makes life (here in Jersey) fascinating and unique. When I do report on an upcoming event, it’s tantamount to hugely endorsing and urging readers to attend; something of value and extraordinarily worthwhile so get off the sedentary sofa.  HERE IS THE LINK FOR MORE INFO AND TO REGISTER (FREE) FOR THE SYMPOSIUM: http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/njinvents_agenda

A few weeks ago I found out about this most amazing event being held at Rutgers University called ‘New Jersey-The State of Invention’ to be held on the afternoon of June 28^th (Saturday). Those of you that know me also recognize I’m a consummate groupie; introduce a ‘celebrity’ to an event and I’m in line at 4 AM for tickets. So when I heard that world famous inventor Guglielmo Marconi’s daughter Elletra Marconi was coming to America and New Jersey and Rutgers to participate in this symposium in June, I was thrilled beyond words. So here are my words urging folks to attend this free event. By the way Guglielmo Marconi won a Nobel Prize in Physics in 1909 and is known for his work on long distance radio transmission (the radio pioneer) And his daughter Elletra will be part of this wondrous symposium.

Paul Israel, one of the symposium organizers and speakers emailed me some comments on the historical talks that are part of the symposium. “These include a talk by myself on the evolution of invention and innovation from the machine shops of Speedwell Village, that spawned the Morse telegraph, to the industrial laboratories innovated by Thomas Edison.  The other two talks are by staff of the IEEE History Center, which joined us in developing the proposal.  Alex Magoun, former director of the Sarnoff Library (the successor to RCA Labs) will talk about research and innovation at RCA Labs and Sheldon Hochheiser, formerly corporate historian of AT&T will discuss the rich history of innovation at Bell Labs.

The goal of the symposium is to explore New Jersey’s rich history of creating and commercializing telecommunication and electrical technologies as part of a larger effort to develop the industrial history of New Jersey and to make this largely neglected but vital aspect of the state’s history more widely available.”

Please register early. I did. And to think we all get a chance to get back on campus and hangout in a college library and spend a perfect afternoon. Once again, HERE IS THE LINK FOR MORE INFO AND TO REGISTER (FREE) FOR THE SYMPOSIUM: http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/njinvents_agenda

Calvin Schwartz, May 9th 2014   11:11 am

Now here is some quick information on the symposium and an agenda. 

Saturday, June 28, 2014
1:00-4:30
Scholarly Communication Center, 4th Floor, Alexander Library
Exhibit and Reception: 4:30-6:00

AGENDA:

Moderator: T. Corey Brennan, Associate Professor of Classics, Rutgers University

 Program Organizers: Grace Agnew, John Brennan, Paul Israel, T. Corey Brennan, Linda Langschied, and Francesca Giannetti.

Contact Grace Agnew, Conference organizer, for more information: gagnew@rutgers.edu

NJ DISCOVER LIVE RADIO SHOW:  SPECIAL GUEST:  PROFESSOR TIM SMITH, Director of Athletic Bands- Rutgers University; Rutgers Marching Band at Super Bowl & Rutgers Drumline on Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon performing with U2: Tune in for Behind the Scenes & Surprises!!  hosts Tara-Jean Vitale & Calvin Schwartz Monday Feb. 24th 8 PM 

TUNE IN HERE AT 8 PM ON MONDAY FEB 24^TH:

http://www.spreaker.com/show/the_nj_discover_radio_show

NJ Discover is thrilled to welcome Professor Tim Smith and members of the Rutgers University Marching Band to our LIVE radio show on Monday February 24^th at 8 PM.  Yes the Rutgers Marching Band appeared at pre-game Super Bowl a few weeks ago; a thrilling experience. The Marching Band also appeared at Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show (been quite a year) and  have appeared at Giants and Jets Football games, ‘The Apprentice’ with Donald Trump and the list goes on. REALLY ON!!

AND NOW WE SAY IT:  Rutgers Drumline was on the 1st Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and performed with U2 on top(really on top) of 30 Rock on Monday Feb 17th.

The world of college marching bands, Rutgers University, Professor Smith and all that goes into putting together an exemplary program for Rutgers, from the planning for the next season’s half time shows to the actual recruiting of band members to the pep band at basketball games and to the emotions and special energies of Rutgers band members and staff all make for a fascinating hour of live discussion.

TUNE IN HERE AT 8 PM ON MONDAY FEB 24^TH:

http://www.spreaker.com/show/the_nj_discover_radio_show

 TIM SMITH BROUGHT THE RUTGERS DRUM LINE ON MONDAY FEB 17TH TO THE 1st TONIGHT SHOW WITH JIMMY FALLON WHERE THEY PERFORMED WITH U2 on  top of 30 ROCK!!    THE LA TIMES MENTIONS RUTGERS:  

ROLLING STONE mentions Rutgers: http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/jimmy-fallon-is-right-at-home-on-the-tonight-show-20140218

ALSO take a few minutes (6) and check out the links below for YouTube coverage of the Rutgers Marching Band at the Super Bowl playing New Jersey and New York inspired pop music at pre game:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WovwQLIjFEE   super bowl video

Rutgers pep band video:   http://www.hooplaha.com/rutgers-rah-a-college-pep-band/     Courtesy of Hooplaha

If you are so moved, OUR state University, Rutgers Athletic Bands can ALWAYS use your “help”. Here’s contact info:

Development contact person is Sharon Cocuzzo:   scocuzza@masongross.rutgers.edu

LECTURE:  Kenneth T. Jackson : Newark’s Decline and Resurgence in the 20th Century as Lessons for Urban America. Rutgers Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. April 25^th  A REVIEW by Calvin Schwartz

The moment I saw Newark as the subject of a lecture, I knew the winds of relevance would take me there. I was born and lived in Newark for 20 years and stay relatively active in the alumni association of Weequahic High School where I graduated in the early sixties. I marvel at the good fortune of living 14 traffic lights from a major university, Rutgers, which affords the curious searching mind a never ending source of stimulation and knowledge via its academic offerings to the community.

The lecture was called “Newark’s Decline and Resurgence in the 20th Century as Lessons for Urban America: The Rise, Fall, and Recovery of a Great Metropolis, 1916-2016.” Kenneth T. Jackson, Professor of History at Columbia University spoke and mesmerized. The lecture was sponsored by the Allen and Joan Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life and Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy and was held at Special Events Forum at the Civic Square Building in New Brunswick. And it was completely booked and the overflow was sent to a third floor video feed. Professor Jackson asked for a show of hands who graduated from Weequahic High in Newark; I was one of many who raised hands. And to my surprise and purist joy, the woman sitting directly behind asked at lecture’s end if I really went to Weequahic. I remembered Roz instantly; we were classmates right through the Cuban missile crisis and we hugged at our random chance meeting. My night and month and beyond were made.

Professor Jackson journeyed the lecture through world city’s histories. Venice was a major commerce and shipping center; then not.  Athens was a major city; then not; same with Vienna, Liverpool and Glasgow and our Detroit. But Newark had everything going for it; at the 250th (1666 to 1916) commemorative it was thought Newark could become a global leading city with major centers of manufacturing, a port that could’ve been the busiest in the world, an airport that was the busiest in the country at one time and even a minor league baseball team in 1937, the Newark Bears, that is considered the best of all time.

Throughout its history, there was a failure of leadership and vision. Newark was small; 21 square miles of which five miles was swamp. Newark was so small compared to Los Angeles with its 400 square miles. And when opportunities existed to annex local towns like Harrison, Kearny or Nutley, Newark’s leaders faltered and never acted. Newark is still small and those other places became cities of their own. But there have been effective leaders too; Charles Cummings, Bob Curvin and Cory Booker.

Newark had the perfect storm of contributing factors of urban decline including the riots back in 1967. There have been notable examples of cities coming back and reinventing like Hoboken did. Professor Jackson was optimistic that Newark could come back despite former Mayor Ken Gibson’s dire statement, that wherever America was going, Newark would get there first. Jackson eloquently discussed his four ingredients to bring back an urban city from decline.

Firstly, reduce crime. Secondly, attract more immigrants. Thirdly, welcome the Gay community and artists. Finally, promote outdoor restaurants. People sitting on the street dining sends a message that people are not afraid to walk around. He cited the explosion of outdoor restaurants on New York City’s Columbus Avenue and its concomitant resurgence.

Everything Professor Jackson talked about fascinated me. I’m a big fan of pinching my arm unobtrusively as a satisfying realization of “look where I am.” A question and answer period followed; the mostly older audience (I felt on the younger side of the scale) peppered comments, praises and questions mostly about their home Weequahic section. A bountiful reception followed. What really impressed me was the availability of the faculty of the Bildner Center and Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. I had a chance to talk at length to Professor Yael Zerubavel, Donald S.Sutton, Assistant Dean for External Affairs, Stuart Meck, Associate Research Professor and Director, Center for Planning Practice and Karyn Olsen, Director of Communications. You have to know me; I love engaging academia and the Rutgers faculty was accommodating and hugely generous with their time.  The moderately dry Riesling wine satisfied. The lights were dimming in the atrium and doors were locked and I was still chatting with Stuart Meck. Therefore it was a magical night at Rutgers and my exhortation to readers about future programs here; “get off your sedentary sofa.”

http://bildnercenter.rutgers.edu/

Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy:  http://policy.rutgers.edu/

Calvin Schwartz:  http://vichywater.net      Facebook:  Cal Schwartz