REPRESENTATION Rutgers administrators refuse to confront the lack of faculty diversity
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DIGITAL DECEPTION Companies have found the perfect muse for their ads, and it’s us SEE INSIDE BEAT, PAGE 8
TENNIS Rutgers claims its third win against Ivy League rackets
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HackHERS celebrates women in STEM fields CATHERINE NGUYEN NEWS EDITOR
This past weekend, several hundred students — both from Rutgers and universities in New Jersey — gathered at the Cook Student Center for HackHERS, an annual overnight hackathon. As the name suggests, the hackathon focuses on women, with the purpose of creating a “space where women feel empowered to create with code and explore tech culture,” according to the HackHERS website. The event is a collaboration between the organization Women in Computer
Science and Douglass Residential College. Students have 24 hours to team up and develop programming projects, along with making a web application and building the hardware. HackHERS’s opening ceremony began with welcoming remarks from Sally Nadler, the assistant dean of Douglass Residential College. Other speakers at the opening ceremony were members from the executive board of Women in Computer Science and company sponsors who announced challenges and prizes. SEE FIELDS ON PAGE 4
Eagleton begins science fellowship for state policy APARNA RAGUPATHI CONTRIBUTING WRITER
On Sunday, New Jersey Assemblyman Andrew Zwicker (D-N.J.) and Eagleton representatives spoke at a session to spread the word about the fellowship program. COURTESY OF APARNA RAGUPATHI
The Eagleton Institute of Politics just launched a one-year fellowship program that places recent science and engineering PhDs within specific departments of state government. The program will put four fellows through an intensive orientation and professional development program so that they SEE POLICY ON PAGE 5
Researchers find link to addiction in brain MEHA AGGARWAL CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Rutgers researchers have discovered a link between cocaine addiction and a specific set of neurons, which indicates a potential therapeutic treatment for drug addiction. In his findings, Morgan James, lead author of the study and a postdoctoral research fellow at the Rutgers Brain Health Institute (BHI), and his team discovered that the use of antagonists — drugs that block nerves from signaling — blocked orexin neurons from signaling when exposed to cocaine.
Highly addicted rats were very sensitive to these antagonists, indicating that such chemical blockers may prove to be an effective treatment for addicts. This discovery has important implications for pharmaceutical therapy for addiction, James said. An antagonist called Belsomra, which is currently used to treat insomnia by targeting orexin receptors, could be repurposed to treat addiction as well. When he started his research, James found that simulating human addiction in rats enabled SEE BRAIN ON PAGE 4
There may be a link between cocaine addiction and a small region in the brain which controls orexin neurons, which play a role in regulating appetite. CURSTINE GUEVARRA / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Rutgers Scarlet Ambassador shares experience of application process MADISON MCGAY CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Elizabeth Alt, a School of Arts and Sciences senior, helps to lead bus tours multiple times a week as part of her job as a Scarlet Ambassador. MICA FINEHART
A Scarlet Ambassador shared insight into the job of being a tour guide for the University, including the interviewing process and some of its challenges and benefits. Scarlet Ambassadors, otherwise known as the tour guides who present prospective students an impression of Rutgers, are not only required to work, but also be part of the staff at the Visitor Center on Busch campus. These ambassadors need to “embrace the importance of professionalism, leadership and teamwork,” according to
the Undergraduate Admissions website. In order to be a tour guide, they are also expected to maintain a 3.0 GPA and attend semester meetings and seminars. One of these Scarlet Ambassadors is Allison Szeliga, a Rutgers Business School senior. She said the admission process began with a group interview, then with a one-on-one interview. The overall applicant pool consisted of well-rounded students who were highly involved at the University, especially in clubs, sports, research and other activities. “The process for me was overall a cohesive and thorough assessment of applicants
VOLUME 151, ISSUE 12 • UNIVERSITY ... 3 • OPINIONS ... 6 • INSIDE BEAT... 8• DIVERSIONS ... 9 • SPORTS ... BACK
interested in the ambassador program,” she said. Szeliga said that remaining optimistic and open-minded was what allowed her to receive the job. Through the interviews, she maintained the idea that she was able to meet new people in a way to help her become successful and professional in the future. After being accepted, Scarlet Ambassadors undergo a training process that involves how to give campus tours, set up events and manage daily operations at the Visitor Center, according to the website. SEE PROCESS ON PAGE 5