LAURELS AND DARTS We dart the fact that young students are subject to such horrific tragedies
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LOCAL MUSIC Five New Brunswick-based bands and artists to add to your Spotify playlist
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friDAY, february 16, 2018
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RUSA meeting discusses plans to improve academic experience Andrew Petryna Correspondent
Ben Sifuentes-Jáuregui, the vice chancellor for Undergraduate Academic Affairs, spoke about the department’s plan to synthesize administrative decisions into a database. BRITTANY GIBSON
Senate fails to pass bill that protects DREAMers Erica D’Costa Associate News Editor
After two government shutdowns and months of back and forth negotiation, the Senate failed to pass the highly anticipated immigration bill on Thursday — jeopardizing the legal status of thousands of undocumented immigrants. The floor blocked four options brought to the table, including President Donald J. Trump’s immigration plan and a bipartisan alternative, according to Vox. The two plans are not tremendously different but the main issues — the state of DACA DREAMers and border security funding — continue to hinder progress on a permanent solution. The Grassley bill, backed by Trump, grants a pathway to citizenship for approximately 2 million
immigrants and appropriates $25 billion to tighten border security, according to the Washington Post. It would have tightened family-based legal immigration and ended the diversity visa lottery program — a lottery-based program that randomly selects migration entries from countries with low immigration. The vote was 39-60 against the bill, 21 votes short of passing. The “Common Sense” Plan, the bipartisan effort, also failed to rally enough votes to secure a stable solution for DREAMers. This plan would have legalized the same number of DACA recipients and allocated $25 billion for southern border security — in phases over the next decade, as opposed to the immediate funding that Trump wanted. The plan also rolled back family-migration flow, but not to the
Ben Sifuentes-Jáuregui, the vice chancellor for Undergraduate Academic Affairs and a professor in the Department of American Studies, addressed the Rutgers University Student Assembly (RUSA) and members of the public during the assembly’s weekly Thursday meeting. The vice chancellor came to the meeting to describe both the work he does and how his organization strives to improve the academic experience for undergraduates. “You are my peeps,” Sifuentes-Jáuregui said. He described what areas Academic Affairs is looking into and the resources it provides students with everyday. “We do three main things. First of all, we oversee a host of programs that support students like the learning centers and career services. We also direct programs such as the access grant programs which are federal and state grants that help first-generation, low-income students, as well as managing the excellence programs,” Sifuentes-Jáuregui said. He mentioned that technology has begun improving rapidly in the last few years, and that Rutgers is working to accommodate these changes to make sure the University’s policies stay current and relevant in the modern environment of academics — especially when it comes to recording devices in class. “What (is) important is that for the first time, in Rutgers, we
actually started thinking about burgeoning technologies that are going on and how students learn and how they use technologies to learn. Our regulations do not have inscribed in them how these technologies affect how students learn,” he said. Sifuentes-Jáuregui said that one of the big issues he comes across often is that not all University rules are written out and easily accessible. The vice chancellor is leading a push to gather and transcribe the year’s worth of administrative decisions, guidelines and materials and compile them into a more easily accessible library. It would make the process of academic regulation and decision making run more smoothly, he said. He said that there are a few reports that the Rutgers community should look out for in the upcoming months. The Learning Method Systems is a report in the works that will investigate the many different supplementar y system’s usage of programs like Blackboard and Sakai and will recommend which ones are best to implement University-wide. It will report on academic integrity and the use of recording devices in class as well. Sifuentes-Jáuregui has been with Rutgers since 1997. He has served as the chair of the Department of American Studies and has an extensive array of awards and honors, including the Warren I. Susman Award for Excellence in Teaching and the award for Distinguished Contributions to Undergraduate Education.
He has written and contributed to several books on Latin American culture studies, and is involved in many programs relevant to the University through institutions such as Rutgers English Diversity Institute and the Aresty Research Center. Following the vice chancellor’s visit, the Assembly heard and voted on legislation that would potentially change language in its governing documents to remove the one-year membership requirement of running for vice president. The bill would allow the undergraduate student body to vote on allowing first-year members to be viable candidates for the spot. “It’s about accessibility and inclusivity,” said Vladimir Carrasco, a School of Arts and Sciences junior. This policy would allow students to truly engage in undergraduate representation, he said. Representatives voiced concern over the potential lack of experience a first-year president would have. They said that RUSA has many procedures and conventions that require a student government understanding. After more than an hour of debate and deliberation, as well as several amendments and motions, the legislation failed in a 22-26 vote.The potential new rules would have gone into effect next election cycle, so they would not have directly affected any current potential candidates. Next week, RUSA will host Chancellor Debasish Dutta at its weekly meeting on Thursday, Feb. 22.
extent that Grassley bill emphasized. The “Common Sense” plan did not include anything about the lotter y program. The bill failed 54-45. The White House threatened to veto the plan. Shortly before the vote, Trump tweeted, calling the plan a “total catastrophe,” according to the Washington Post.
Moving Forward
The lack of agreement between Republicans and Democrats in this seesaw like battle over technical tweaks could result in the loss of legal protection for more than 500 DREAMers at Rutgers. The bill’s failure could fling thousands of immigrants into a legal limbo if a consensus does not pass by March 5 — the expiration of Obama’s DACA program. Although this deadline is less than two weeks away, Ross Baker, a professor in the Department of Political Science, said he expects the heat to be turned up and real work See bill on Page 4
The Senate’s inability to pass one of multiple compromises on immigration means that more than 600,000 DACA recipients will be left unprotected after March 5. THE DAILY TARGUM / JANUARY 2016
VOLUME 150, ISSUE 15 • University ... 3 • opinions ... 6 • INSIDE BEAT... 8 • Diversions ... 9 • SPORTS ... BACK