With the doors open, the flashy lights flickering, and the ping pong balls bouncing, the newly renovated Bottle Hill room in the Student Center has a new flare this semester.

“The Bottle Hill room is a great space with a great location,” said Nicole Milazzo, a senior at Fairleigh Dickinson University, who came up with the idea for renovation. “I saw that the Bottle Hill room had so much potential to be a place where students can feel comfortable and spend time with friends.”

Milazzo was introduced to the Bottle Hill room’s need for renovation when she went to her first pub night last semester and her experience fell short of what she expected, she said. After hearing suggestions from the student body and adding her own ideas, Milazzo took action and spoke with Dean of Students Brian Mauro about future changes.

Throughout the pub’s transformation, “the entire student body was extremely supportive during the whole process,” said Milazzo. “To my pleasant surprise, I had so many helpers that it made divvying up the work load a lot easier. I had a lot of support from the Hospitality Society, Campus Life and Residence Life.”

The entire project took about three months, according to Milazzo. With the help of friends, faculty and staff, all the changes were made during winter break. The walls were painted with the school colors and the ceiling was painted black.

The left wall of the room used to be cinder block; it has since been covered with a stucco wall and repainted. The upper portion of the right wall was decorated with current and vintage FDU memorabilia donated from clubs and organizations on campus. The tables were repainted with black lacquer and plexi-glass was screwed to the tops to protect the pictures underneath.

The pictures include photos taken from FDU yearbooks dating as far back as the 1950s to present day students and events. New mirrors and lighting were installed behind the bar, and there are now 12 new dance floor lights that make for great atmosphere. There is also a new layout for the furniture. The high tables are on the outside of the room and the couches are arranged in the middle, while window seating in the front of the room has been added. On top of the new improvement to the pub area, there is also a brand new ping pong table and a shuffle board table to enhance the game room.
“The goal was that all the students could come back from winter break with something to look forward to and be excited about,” Milazzo said.

Students quickly noticed the changes in the Bottle Hill room.

“When I came back to the Florham campus this semester, after being in Wroxton, I was taken away from how the pub has transformed,” said Heather Lonergan, a junior. “It is the first time that I actually hear people taking about the pub area and game room.”

Junior Donna Zepponi was also impressed.

“Walking by the Bottle Hill room, the first day of school, I couldn’t believe the improvement and total transformation of the pub’s atmosphere,” she said. “I look forward to going there and enjoying the student-friendly environment.”

Milazzo was not open to talking about the total expense of the project; however, Mauro has said in a recent discussion that the overall renovation was fairly inexpensive.

“I really appreciated all the donations from the dean of students office, campus life and student government that assisted in funding this project,” said Milazzo.

Milazzo hopes that the room will now be used for a variety of programs, meetings and events.
“I am hoping the enthusiasm for the new design will carry over into the excitement to hold programs and events in there now,” she said. “I am hoping that the stigma of ‘it’s only for people over 21’ dissipates and the entire student body feels as though the space is for them and whatever their needs are.”

Any student is allowed to use the pub room and the new equipment that has been added since winter break.

“I hope that all students, no matter age, clique, or organization can utilize that space,” said Milazzo. The Bottle Hill room offers wireless connection, games, television, and even just a new atmosphere to hang out in.”

BY SAMANTHA BOYCE
ASSISTANT EDITOR

“I’ll make you a list by the end of the night, man. There are some people you need to check out.” Jon Sands readied himself to share the names of his favorite poets, probably more contemporary than not, probably names most haven’t heard before. And that’s the appeal. His experience in the New York City slam poetry circuit has shown him the best and the worst, and considering his years and years of self-immersion in the world of poetry, I’d be a fool not to take his recommendations.
In his first year of competition Jon Sands captured a slot on the LouderARTS New York City poetry slam team, the youngest person ever to do so; then he was a finalist at the National Poetry Slam in Austin, Texas. A Cincinnati native, Sands now finds himself touring all over the United States. On Oct. 30, however, his stop was Fairleigh Dickinson University. His performance was sponsored by the department of creative writing, residence life and the dean of students.

The Bottle Hill Room was vacant when he stepped in, bringing with him a friend from the city’s Slam scene, Eboni, to open his act. Sands’ performance was booked to skirt the end of pub night in the Bottle Hill Room in an effort to keep any drinkers behind its doors. This way, they’d finish their last beers as Sands laid into the microphone and decide to stay for the act. Unfortunately, the chairs were empty; not even warm. Nothing looked recently used or occupied, and one could very well have surmised that pub night itself must have fallen flat. It didn’t matter to Sands. People began filing in, rearranging furniture and smiling wide and eagerly in front of the small stage. Intimacy came in the form of a row of student-occupied couches as Eboni began her verse.

Young and initially hesitant, Eboni’s appearance doesn’t fit her experience: a history that made itself evident the minute spoke into the microphone. In fact, she has performed in 16 U.S. cities and internationally in Ghana, West Africa. She was the 2008 NYC-Urbana Grand Slam Champion, and a member of the 2007 Nuyorican Slam Team, where she became a finalist at the National Poetry Slam, and the all-women performance group, Bitten Tongue. Her poems are made alive by her enthusiasm, choosing to turn off the on-stage microphone and project using only her impassioned voice. Eboni captures her audience. If she’s angry, you’re angry. If she’s upset, you might tear up. It’s the sign of a great performer, and by all accounts, her listeners at FDU were left with chills. In only 20 or so minutes, she proceeded to weave a gorgeous blanket of words big enough to wrap everyone inside.

Sands succeeded Eboni with considerable liveliness - literally jumping on stage and spinning around, laughing to himself. “Give it up for yourselves for coming out and supporting live arts,” he said. “You guys could be in your dorm rooms watching the second season of ‘Gossip Girl’ on DVD.” His animation was engaging; his humor relatable. All of that, though, was contrasted by the stark, serious silence that began right before he slammed into verse. Looking down for seconds that felt like minutes before his words, like gunshots in a field, came barreling into our ears. “The broken sky responds,” he began, writing from the perspective of our watchful sky. “I am not just beautiful, I am home. I give you mountain and Manhattan, and I have meant every cloud I’ve ever made.” Its poems like “I Am” and “Being Human Being,” though, that capture the raw emotion Sands wishes to, and too often succeeds in, conveying. The spit was almost palpable from the front row when he shouted, slamming down his hands and shimmying his feet in full-body delivery: “Do not tell me I have not been here. I am ‘been here’. I am New Jersey transit, a fifth of Jim Beam and a raspy paper bag.”

Toward the end of his set he prefaced an admittedly politically-themed poem by announcing his intention to retire it after the election. “And I totally respect your political views, whatever they may be,” he said, following up with some good, old-fashioned American disappointment. “Pride exists buried inside my body. That’s where you find it embedded, because America only means conservative, male, white republican if we leave it or we let it, it’s threaded into our skin, and no leader, or president, or government, or policy has the right to define patriotism for us and take that pride away.” His aforementioned warning was pragmatic, but surveying the faces in the room, it was doubtful anyone had any qualms with Sands’ literary rebellion.

After he wrapped up, Sands returned to a makeshift merchandise table where he was met by a short line of students waiting to buy a book or a CD. He greeted them graciously and encouraged them to find him online so they could exchange a few messages. After all had gone, he exited and talked to Eboni about the train ride home. From his knapsack he pulled out a raspy paper bag and cracked the seal to a fifth of Jim Beam, smiling as if to say, “That one ain’t no joke.”

MATT RYAN
Staff Writer