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RUTGERS UNIVERSITY—NEW BRUNSWICK
Companies to remove chemicals from water RYAN HALSTATER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
On March 25, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) issued a directive ordering five chemical companies to funds the removal of certain PFAS chemicals contained in natural resources, such as drinking water. “These compounds have (the) capability of moving through the soil and getting into groundwater so that they can get into your drinking water,” said Keith Cooper, a professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and member of the
Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute. Two of the compounds involved are PFNA and PFOA, both of which fall under the PFAS chemical class. Cooper said these compounds are typically used to remove stains from carpets, add water resistance to clothes and for firefighting foams. These compounds have also been found in the bloodstream of almost every person that has been tested for it in the country. People are exposed to certain compounds through dust, drinking water, food and other mediums. These compounds do not break down in the environment and have
FRIDAY APRIL 12, 2019
a long half-life in an individual’s body, meaning that in 5 to 10 years there will still be remnants of the compounds remaining. Studies conducted found that rodents developed certain types of cancers when exposed to different compounds. These studies on rodents also showed similar effects to studies conducted with humans. Cooper said a previous study found a correlation between PFOA levels in drinking water and adverse effects in people. One such effect is increased cholesterol, which is connected to heart disease, heart attacks and strokes. The compound also has the potential to disrupt hormonal levels at low concentrations. “Early exposure in the developing organism translates to effects later on,” Cooper said. SEE WATER ON PAGE 4
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Keith Cooper, a professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, said early exposure to the contaminants at a young age could lead to harmful effects later on. RUTGERS.EDU
New minor to encompass 3 different social sciences AMANDA AGWUEGBO CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Rutgers University will soon implement a new minor for students: Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE). The new minor intends to encompass these three fields in order to teach students how the social world works currently and how it could work in the future. Alec Walen, the undergraduate director for the Program in Criminal Justice and associate professor in the Department of Philosophy, said that before the minor, there existed only a PPE certificate.
“The certificate was very intensive. It took 69 credits to get, 33 in the major plus 36 in total for the two minors,” he said. “That’s a lot of credits considering we had no gateway course, and no capstone course.” While students understood the concept of a major or minor, fewer understood what a certificate exactly meant. The certificate was created because a student asked about PPE, which originally was a program at University of Oxford, Walen said. Walen then met with undergraduate chairs of the three departments to create the certificate, but it was not SEE SCIENCES ON PAGE 4
Most students say bribery happens at their university MADISON MCGAY CORRESPONDENT
Jerry Zheng, a content editor at OneClass, said that in a national survey conducted, students said they were aware of the privileges of being rich. LINKEDIN
Recently, a study found that 63% of college students believe that bribery happens at their university. It was done following the college admissions scandal in which parents used bribery to get their children accepted into various universities. This study, performed by Jerry Zheng, a content editor at OneClass, also found that a third of “campus SEE UNIVERSITY ON PAGE 5
Study finds exercise helps cancer survivors STEVEN OZORIA CONTRIBUTING WRITER
A new Rutgers study found that aerobic exercises, such as walking programs, could help cancer survivors — specifically those who had breast cancer — fight against fatigue, stabilize their weight and decrease systemic inflammation. Rita Musanti, lead author and assistant professor at Rutgers School of Nursing, said researchers only recently began studying the relationship between exercise and its benefits for cancer survivors. “Starting in the 1990s, it was the first time that exercise was used to alleviate some of the
symptoms that cancer patients had related to chemotherapy. In those early studies they found that what exercise helped the most with was fatigue,” Musanti said. Further studies were conducted in the beginning of the 2000s, she said. These studies were broadened to more fields in epidemiology, the study of diseases, and found that individuals who had been diagnosed with breast or colorectal cancer who exercised regularly had a decreased risk of the disease recurring. Researchers eventually became more interested in the benefits of exercise as more studies were SEE SURVIVORS ON PAGE 5
In the Rutgers study, participants were asked to walk every day in 10-minute increments or longer. The increments were adjusted based on whether the participant was being actively treated for cancer or had already been treated. ISTOCK PHOTO
VOLUME 151, ISSUE 44 • UNIVERSITY ... 3 • OPINIONS ... 6 • INSIDE BEAT... 8• DIVERSIONS ... 9• SPORTS ... BACK