THE DAILY TARGUM
Volume 141, Number 75
S E R V I N G
T H E
R U T G E R S
C O M M U N I T Y
S I N C E
WEDNESDAY JANUARY 27, 2010
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Today: Sunny
DOGGY TREATS
High: 44 • Low: 28
No. 1 Connecticut received and promptly dispatched the Rutgers women’s basketball team by more than doubling the Knights’ score last night at the XL Center.
U. builds up final steps to create greener campus BY CHRIS ZAWISTOWSKI STAFF WRITER
Students will likely see a green transformation in the look and feel of the College Avenue campus by the fall semester. With the University starting to vet through contractor bids, construction on the College Avenue Greening project will begin this semester after the University awards a construction contract during the Feb. 11 Board of Governors’ meeting in Newark, said Antonio Calcado, vice president of University Facilities and Capital Planning. Once the contract is awarded, spring semester construction goals include converting the small parking lot outside Stonier Hall on the College Avenue campus into a green space and beautifying other interior spaces along College Avenue, Calcado said.
“That’s the kind of the stuff I think we can accomplish in a fairly short order,” he said. “They are not too difficult to do, but they are very transformative.” Infrastructure work for the project was completed last year as power and utility lines were buried under the street, Calcado said. The University is considering city concerns and different contractor suggestions regarding issues like emergency response and the location of utility lines, he said. This may cause modifications from the original project proposal. The University is still in the process of combing through the proposals and seeing what is the best course of action to take, Calcado said. “As we see what the contractors have come back and told us and some of the other concerns from the public, we will marry all that up and see the
SEE CAMPUS ON PAGE 6
RAMON DOMPOR/ ASSOCIATE PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
The College Avenue Greening project is in its final planning stages to begin construction this summer. The new project will include designated bike lanes, pedestrian plazas and landscaped walkways.
CDC urges at-risk youth to receive H1N1 vaccine BY KRISTINE ROSETTE ENERIO CORRESPONDENT
GRAPHIC BY MATT STEELE
The Centers for Disease Control concludes youth are more susceptible to H1N1 due to their close proximity to others in work and school environments.
INDEX UNIVERSITY Students looking to get involved can browse through clubs at today’s Involvement Fair.
OPINIONS A California elementary school bans dictionaries for defining “oral sex.” UNIVERSITY . . . . . . . 3 OPINIONS . . . . . . . 10 DIVERSIONS . . . . . . 12 CLASSIFIEDS . . . . . . 14 SPORTS . . . . . . BACK
ONLINE @ DAILYTARGUM.COM
The swine flu has affected an estimated quarter of the children in the United States — including college students. To spread more awareness about the H1N1 vaccination, MTV — in conjunction with the White House and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services — held a phone conference yesterday with college and university newspapers across the nation. Secretar y for HHS Kathleen Sebelius called H1N1 the young person’s flu, consid-
ering people age 24 and younger have been hit harder than any other age group. The virus has infected more people than a normal year of flu, said Dr. Stephen Redd, the director of Influenza Coordination Unit for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Just being young puts folks at the greater risk,” Sebelius said. “The 18 to 24year-olds have been six times more likely to be hospitalized than what happens in a normal flu season.”
SEE VACCINE ON PAGE 4
AUTHORITIES ARREST ANTI-ACORN ALUMNUS University alumnus James O’Keefe was arrested with three others on felony charges Monday for attempting to gain access to Sen. Mary Landrieu’s New Orleans office. O’Keefe, Joseph Basel, Robert Flanagan and Stan Dai were charged with entering federal property under false pretenses by posing as telephone repairmen, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigations. A former columnist for The Daily Targum and founder of The Centurion magazine, O’Keefe gained notoriety after creating undercover videos about the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, which led to a slash in its federal funding in September 2009. Landrieu called the incident unusual and unsettling, in a statement released last night. “I am as interested as everyone else about their motives and purpose, which I hope will become clear as the investigation moves forward,” she said. Flanagan and Basel were each dressed in denim pants, blue work shirts, fluorescent vests, tool belts and hard harts when they entered the Hale Boggs Federal Building in New Orleans, according to the FBI. The men allegedly attempted to manipulate telephones and access the phone closet. They stated they had left their credentials in their vehicle and were apprehended by the U.S. Marshals Service. If convicted, the men could each face a maximum term of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release following any term of imprisonment, according to the FBI. Kyle Barry, editor-in-chief of The Centurion, said he does not think O’Keefe will receive that sentence. “I think that would be wildly excessive,” said Barry, a School of Arts and Sciences junior. He said O’Keefe was not trying to do anything malicious. “[O’Keefe] was trying to expose corruption … [even though] that was the bad way to go about it,” Barry said. — Heather Brookhart
MAYA NACHI/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
The new Livingston Student Center reopens with ample space to host events and a larger food court, with more renovations still underway. Students commend the new facility.
Refurbished student center revitalizes Livingston campus BY COLLEEN ROACHE AND SUNNDUSS MAHMOUD STAFF WRITERS
“Change” is a buzzword around the nation as well as around the state, and now change has come to the Livingston Student Center. The Livingston Student Center is now home to several conference rooms, a large food court and the Rutgers Zone, a
University version of the game arcade Dave and Buster’s. The Livingston Campus Council worked hard to bring the entertainment center to the campus, said Josh Slavin, Livingston Student Representative to the Board of Trustees. “It’ll bring a lot of life to the campus,” he said.
SEE CENTER ON PAGE 7