Nestled under ancient trees beside the First Presbyterian Church in Elizabeth lies a cemetery, richly studded with gravestones. Even through few words, the aged markers tell eloquent tales of the lives lived long ago in this town famous for its role in history. The fates of entire families, of patriots as well as unknowns, can be gleaned from the inscribed details on each slab.
A thoroughly modern innovation, developed by Kean University Computer Science students, now provides access to the wealth of information contained in the cemetery. Historical researchers, genealogists and any interested person can hold all the tales from these crypts in their own hands.
In September 2012 Reverend Higgs, a pastor of the Church, challenged Kean University Computer Science students to create a smartphone app to make the burial ground’s information easily accessible. This was indeed no small task as the cemetery contains more than 2,000 tombstones, in various stages of corrosion.
The Kean Computer Science and Information Technology student team, under direction of Professor Patricia Morreale and student Carlos Silva, divided into two groups, one to create an iPhone app and indoor Tracking, an Android app. Jason Bonafide, serving as database developer and administrator, supported both teams.
The Apple iPhone development team, was under the leadership of Josh Lisojo, with Allan Goncalves, Nathaly Lozano, and Harold Liao all contributing in areas of map and features. Lisojo also handled search functionality. The Apple iPhone emulator was used to build the Apple screens.
Daniel Church led the Google Android development team, with Dev Das, Steve Holtz, and Jugal Shah working on map, features, and search, respectively. The Android OS required expertise in Java and XML.The project was very demanding, as each team had to find ways to mirror the other team in search functionality and features. The Apple app (fpc Cemetery app) debuted in the Apple store mid-March 2103, with the Android app (FPC Cemetery) arriving in the Android store in April. Currently both apps are free to download.
The app is easily navigable and even incorporates humor (the search bar contains the prompt “I see dead people”). Users may seek information by name, year of death, age, or section of the burial grounds. Each individual’s file includes birth and death dates, age, cause of death, epitaph and a photo of the gravestone if available. In addition, there are maps and photos of the graveyard, and information for those planning a visit.Reverend Higgs is very satisfied with the final results and said, “The app was well received at the NJ Historic Trust annual preservation conference in Newark. It clearly represents a cutting-edge approach to linking the latest technology to the necessity of preserving and rediscovering our history.
Everywhere I've shown the app, people have been impressed by the quality of the work and intrigued as to how this technology can open new audiences to appreciating our heritage. My sincere appreciation to the Kean team for pioneering this new avenue to history.”
Now, in my 70s and with artificial knees, I walk or cycle and swim laps daily, all of which has kept me aerobically fit, free of pain, reasonably trim and energetic. So in combing recently through the professional literature on exercise and bone health, I was quite disappointed to learn that neither swimming nor cycling is especially good for my bones — at least, not the ones most susceptible to fracture. Swimming, in fact, might compromise the strength of those bones because it lacks the tug of gravity.
That’s what researchers have found when they measured bone mineral density in young athletes who swim or cycle, and even in some who run.
There are two reasons for this. One is the continuous nature of these activities. Bones, it seems, don’t like constant pressure. They respond better to exercise that involves forceful muscle contractions, occurring in starts and stops and with some variety — as happens, Hands free access, when playing tennis or training with weights.
To maintain strength, bones also need the stress of gravity, which is lacking in cycling and swimming and not as powerful when walking as it is when running. Being suspended in water is like floating in space for a short time: Once they leave Earth, astronauts lose bone.
In the famous Nurses’ Health Study, which has followed tens of thousands of postmenopausal women for decades, those who walked for at least four hours a week were 40 percent less likely to suffer hip fractures than those who walked less.
Those who walked for at least eight hours a week (or did the equivalent amount of another activity) were as unlikely to suffer hip fractures as women on hormone replacement therapy, long known to protect bones. As a bonus, walking briskly for exercise also lowered the women’s risk of developing heart disease, diabetes and stroke.
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