Volume CXV No. 32
» INSIDE
UConn Hillel dedicates building
By Brian Zahn Senior Staff Writer
FALL CONCERT DRAWS A CROWD Local bands rock Von der Mehden FOCUS/ page 7
TOTAL DOMINATION OVER PIRATES UConn scores four goals by the end of the first half SPORTS/ page 14 FOURSQUARE MEANS DANGEROUS EXPOSURE Social media may give too much information. COMMENTARY/page 4 INSIDE NEWS: OBAMA URGES CROWD TO SHOW HIM THE ENERGY OF ‘08 Obama sparks crowd excitement in Philadelphia. NEWS/ page 2
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The Daily Campus 11 Dog Lane Storrs, CT 06268 Box U-4189
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Monday, October 11, 2010
Students, family and alumni, past and present, associated with Hillel gathered yesterday for the dedication ceremony of the Trachten-Zachs Hillel House. Sami Ginzberg, a 3rd-semester English major and a student engagement intern at Hillel, referred to the dedication as the “biggest Hillel event in over 16 years.” The building, located at 54 North Eagleville Road., was inundated with people who had gathered before the ceremony. The crowd moved outside to a tent set up for the event, which began at 2 p.m. The ceremony was held in honor of the donations of Morris Trachten and Henry
Invisible Children illuminate child slavery
Zachs. Hillel was able to receive enough in donations to create an endowment of more than $1 million for future use. Over the next hour, students introduced the speakers listed on the agenda by addressing the crowd about what opportunities Hillel had provided them, and reminiscing on the experiences they had been afforded because of Hillel. UConn president Philip Austin was among the speakers on the program. Austin spoke of the “qualities that Hillel represents,” listing “diversity, acceptance, ambition, reverence, faith and respect.” “The journey is just beginning,” said Gary Wolff, executive director of UConn Hillel. Wolff, who has held the position since July 2009, discussed how in his short tenure he has been able to take 60
ASHLEY POSPISIL/The Daily Campus
Outside of the UConn Hillel building in October of last year.
students on Birthright, a 10 day trip to Israel. Ginzberg, who spoke at the
ceremony, discussed the ways she got involved in her freshman year.
» ROADIES, page 15
» ZACHS, page 15
Latin American week comes to an end
By Abby Ferrucci Campus Correspondent If you are looking for a way to get involved on campus, as well as make a real difference in the lives of the exploited children of northern Uganda, then UConn’s branch of Invisible Children (IC) is for you. The club, founded in the spring of 2010, is a satellite of the larger Invisible Children organization, a grassroots youth movement based in San Diego. According to the IC website, the goal of the organization is to “use film, creativity and social action to end the use of child soldiers in Joseph Kony’s rebel war and restore northern Uganda to peace and prosperity.” Just recently, the organization saw its biggest accomplishment to date: President Obama’s signing of the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act of 2009, signed in May of this year. Julian Shafer, a 3rd-semester history education major is a recent transfer to UConn and new member to the club, but is no stranger to IC on a national level. Shafer was present in Washington, D.C. when the group got their bill unanimously through Congress and passed on to President Obama. “It was the greatest sense of accomplishment I ever had, knowing that the action we took truly directly affected children’s lives,” Shafer said. Other students have joined the cause for similar reasons. Lauren Rosenthal, a 5thsemester communications/ psychology double major and vice-president of the UConn chapter, saw what a difference this group made internationally, and had a hand in bringing the club here. “The young people that started this group saw something wrong with the world and despite their age made a big impact,” said Rosenthal. The group recently held their first awareness-raising activity of the semester.
“I thrived on the outside, but I was by no means happy on the inside,” Ginzberg said. This all changed for her when her friend took her to a Shabbat dinner at Hillel, which left her “blown away.” “I arrived here in 1942,” Trachten said. “If you’ve been here longer, raise your hand,” he told the laughing crowd. “Things have changed considerably, and the school has grown considerably,” Trachten said, in reference to the estimated 2,000 Jewish students at UConn. Trachten donated half of the funds for the $300,000 Morris N. Trachten Kosher Dining Facility, which opened with Gelfenbien Commons in 2003. The facility was donated during Austin’s original 10 years
ASHLEY POSPISIL/The Daily Campus
Jessica Caceres, urban and community studies major, 9th-semester.
By Sabrina Herrera Campus Correspondent Friday afternoon, the “hermanos” of Latino América Unida, Lambda Alpha Upsilon Fraternity, Inc ended their annual Latino Awareness Week (LAWeek) with an art exhibit featuring the avantgarde styles of Ismael Cuadros, a Peruvian artist from Hartford. Cuadros displayed his paintings
from over the last three years. His canvases consisted of colorful representations of Hispanic life and culture. His acrylics are not just influenced by his life as a child in Peru, but by music, movies and current events as well. “Music comes and goes, movies talk a lot, but paintings are always there,” he said. A dark alien figure recurs in two of his paintings. When asked where it came from, he said it was
the logo of a Mexican alternative rock band, Zoé. “To them, the alien means something else. To me, it’s like someone is...not watching us, but is aware of us and is maybe making a plan for us,” Cuadros said. The alien is depicted separately with the earth and again with other planets. This year, members of the fraternity tried to make the week more engaging. The week’s
an interdiction to keep Jon [from] making people reasonable.” “Also, we couldn’t get Country Joe & the Fish together,” he quipped. Colbert said that the purpose of the rally is to instill fear, saying that it was superior to Stewart’s cry for rationality. “I don’t think it’s possible to rally for sanity,” Colbert said. “You’re going to get extremely moderate at the rally? No, you’re going to get jacked up about something and that’s why I’m offering fear as something to get excited about.” He cited the role of fear in the Cold War. Referring to the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction, he said fear prevented Russia and United States from using their nuclear weapons against the other. “Our fear of each other is what kept each other at bay,” he said. Colbert said fear is a great motivator, citing the productivity gained from writing term papers
right before they are due. Some UConn students have already made plans to attend the rally, which is nearly 350 miles away from the Storrs campus. “I want to keep fear alive,” said Sam Gordon, a 3rd-semester natural resources major who plans to make the trek to hear Colbert. “I don’t want to look back in 10 years and say, ‘where the hell did fear go? Oh you didn’t do anything to keep fear alive.’ I want to look back and say, ‘I did keep fear alive.’” One of Gordon’s friends, Jon Sykes, plans to attend the rally with Gordon. But, his view of Colbert’s rally differs from Gordon’s. Sykes said he likes the idea of both rallies, but is looking forward to Stewart’s rally than Colbert’s. “The Colbert thing is more comedic,” Sykes, a 3rd-semester political science major, said. “Sanity is way more politically oriented. Now only radicals are heard-in the sense of right now
activities included a one-act play about a Latina’s coming of age story, Latino Jeopardy, and a showing of “Papers: Stories of Undocumented Youth,” a documentary film. Lambda Alpha Upsilon also collaborated with other cultural centers on campus. Brian Ibarra, a 7th-semester communications major and co-founder of Lambda Alpha Upsilon, explains, “We want to stick away from the cliques.” The fraternity, although starting off with Latino roots, has since grown to be a multi-cultured group, with members from Albania, England and Poland. “We want to expand what we do, reach out to other communities and organizations on campus, not just Latinos,’ Ibarra said. Ibarra, who originally wasn’t interested in Greek life as a freshman, was drawn to the group by its involvement in community service, family and the organization’s “metas,” or goals. “Education is the most important thing for us, so we do a lot with local high schools, helping students with college applications, and just being mentors for them,” Ibarra said. The motto that Latino América Unida likes to share with its mentees is, “Venceremos Porque Nacimos Para Triunfar!” or “We will overcome because we were born to truimph!”
Sabrina.Herrera@UConn.edu
Stephen Colbert talks to students
By Jay Polansky Associate News Editor Comedian Stephen Colbert promoted his “March to Keep Fear Alive” in an in-character teleconference with college journalists Friday afternoon. His event, which starts at noon on Oct. 30 on the National Mall in Washington, has received approximately 85,000 “attending” RSVPs via Facebook. Approximately 200,000 people have said they plan on “attending” fellow Comedy Central star Jon Stewart’s “Rally for Sanity,” which is scheduled to occur at the same place at the same time. When asked by The Daily Campus why he chose the National Mall as opposed to Bethel, N.Y., the site of Woodstock, Colbert said, “They’re still mopping up from Woodstock ‘99 there. This is not a counter-cultural rally. This is
you don’t hear many people that are middle of the road speaking on news networks.” The event will feature Colbert and “special guests,” including D.F.A., according to keepfearalive.com. Colbert declined to divulge the identities of the “special guests” on the call. Colbert and Stewart are not the first TV personalities to hold a rally in Washington. Glenn Beck hosted a “Restoring Honor” rally at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in August. Despite the excitement and hype, some people might be afraid to attend the rally. “I understand that,” Colbert said. “I understand that fear. There are going to be hundreds of thousands of people. There could be a pandemic.” “You’ve heard Purell doesn’t work, right?” he added.
Jay.Polansky@UConn.edu
What’s on at UConn today... University Senate Meeting 4 to 6 p.m. Merlin Bishop Center 7
Pray Away the Gay 6 to 7:30 p.m. Student Union Theater
SEO Speaker Event 6 to 8 p.m. School of Business 218
Albanian Student Association 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Arjona 139
Administrators and members of the senate discuss and act on university issues at the senate’s monthly meeting.
Author and activist Wayne Bensen will speak about the myths surrounding ‘ex-gays.’
Bob Casey, founder and Chief Operating Officer of YouRenew.com, will speak.
Interested students can attend the club’s weekly meeting. -JOE ADINOLFI