Fighting, running, hiding
Stories from Ireland and Italy

Spring 2016

Why New Jersey Soil Could Be Making You Sick

With thousands of New Jersey children sickening from lead poisoning every year, some university scientists are zeroing in not only on corroded pipes and industrial dumps, but on a substance called “biosolids,” or “sewage sludge”.

A Hundred Years of Filth

After decades of neglect, New Jersey's notoriously polluted Passaic River is finally targeted for a $1.4 billion cleanup – one of the most expensive efforts in the federal Superfund program’s 36-year history.

The Storm That Swallowed A House

Hurricane season is always a threat. But the nor’easter of early October 2015 was unlike any other.

Analyzing the Climate Wars

The Pope gets political, and a new owner takes...

Our Atomic Legacy

In 1943, a vast field in the New Jersey town of Middlesex was part of the Manhattan Project, the top-secret program that created the atomic bomb. It took the federal government nearly 40 years more to discover that radioactive material had been left behind -- and for the land to be targeted for cleanup.

What We Talk When We Talk About Religion

Tatianna Amatruda looks at how the media covers Islam, as...

From Right, Left and Center

A look at the dramatically different ways media covers...

Random Crossing

Two unwitting soul mates negotiate their separate and physically taxing daily routines, which remarkably almost identically match up. What will happen when they meet?

Running and Recovery

Laura Cisneros lost her best friend in a racecar accident, then her mother to cancer. In grueling obstacle course races, she tried to work out her grief.

Hip Hop Homophobia Meets a Challenge

As high fashion cultivated by gay designers proliferates in hip-hop, there’s been some predictable backlash. With misogyny and homophobia one of the prominent characteristics of the genre, it's hard to say whether the industry will leave those prejudices behind.

Surfers Rushed in, After the Gamblers Fled

Beleaguered Atlantic City develops a surprising second life as a surfing mecca.

Is it Time to Lower the Drinking Age?

A student team in Prof. Khadijah White's Documentary and Video Storytelling class looks into whether the 21+ drinking age is, ironically, encouraging a campus culture of more dangerous drinking.

Amanda Autore Had a Different Idea

After Amanda Autore suffered a traumatic brain injury, her chemistry professor suggested she leave the major. "That was a slap in the face," Autore recalled. Instead, she established the first Rutgers club for students with disabilities. "I can still go and get my Ph.D. if I want to," she said. "Which I do."

The Problem with Badderall

Kayla Brantley looks into ways students abuse the "smart drug" Adderall.

An Unhealthy Passion for Healthy Food

In attempting to be the healthiest person I could be, I was destroying my health, my mind and my life.

Your Grandma Wouldn’t Be Caught Dead in That

Cecilia Schiavo examines our changing standards for church wear.

More Teens Going Under the Knife

Subjected to the heightened pressures of beauty, and a culture enveloped in social media, photoshopped advertisements and reality TV, teens have turned to cosmetic procedures to modify their "flawed" features, and to feel more comfortable in public.

Battling the Body

The dancer Olivia Miranda talks about how obsession with body image dominates her field.