THE DAILY TARGUM
Volume 141, Number 101
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
MONDAY MARCH 8, 2010
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Today: Sunny
OMAHA BOUND
High: 58 • Low: 33
D.J. Russo, Joe Langel and Daryl Cocozzo punched their tickets to the National Championships with strong showings at this weekend’s EIWAs.
Poll shows uncertainty in upcoming election DEVIN SIKORSKI
“We’re talking eight months before the elections in November, so it’s not surprising that many people don’t know who they are going to vote for,” Redlawsk said. “Most people just don’t think about politics.” In the five congressional districts held by Republicans, voters plan to vote for a Republican by a 25 to 40 percent margin. Meanwhile, in the eight congressional districts held by Democrats, voters intend to vote for Democrats by a 22 to 41 percent margin. “This suggests that unless a strong anti-incumbent campaign develops, independents may be mostly drawn to the party of their
BY CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Incumbent state Congress members currently face no fear of losing their seats this coming November, but there are still many independent voters who remain undecided, according to a poll by the University’s Eagleton Institute of Politics. The poll reported that New Jersey voters gave incumbents a 25 to 32 percent lead statewide when asked about voting for either their current Congress member or a challenger. David Redlawsk, a University political science professor and poll director, said at this point, it is not out of the ordinary for people to not know who they are going to vote for.
JODIE FRANCIS
Students shred to win the largest air guitar title ensemble Friday at the Louis Brown Athletic Center on Livingston campus. Though they did not break the record, proceeds will help music and art programs in New Brunswick.
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U. rocks out despite world record loss BY GLEN GABRIEL CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Boasting their red mohawks, concert T-shirts and studded belts and bracelets, University students, as well as several area residents, came to the Louis Brown Athletic Center on Livingston campus Friday prepared to put their air guitar skills to the test. While they had high hopes of breaking a world record for the largest air guitar ensemble, there were not enough people — even with a strong turnout — to break the existing Guinness World Record set at Brock University in Canada where more than 1,436
people gathered last September for an air guitar performance. Rutgers University Programming Association members were the principal organizers of the event. Other groups like Dance Marathon, Rutgers Athletics, Rutgers Dining, Rutgers Summer Session, the RU Sure? Campaign and the New Brunswick Campus Deans Office also helped. RUPA Vice President of Spirit and Special Events Alexandria Intravatola remains optimistic in light of the unsuccessful attempt. “Will I say this is a failure? Absolutely not,” Intravatola, a School of Arts and Sciences junior,
said. “This event was still successful for many people.” Senior Student Programs Coordinator Matthew Ferguson said the most important thing was that everyone had a good time. “All of you should be proud,” he told the crowd. “Everyone who came out had a great time and a fun night.” Even though the record went unbroken, there was a silver lining. Ever y attendee was asked to donate at least $5 to the cause — more than $4,000 will go toward music and arts programs for the New Brunswick School District.
SEE LOSS ON PAGE 4
INDEX UNIVERSITY Six dance groups battle head-to-head to win the top prize while fundraising for children with AIDS.
50
Too slowly — 52%
40 30 20
About right — 31%
Too quickly — 13%
Don’t know — 5%
10 0
Source: Eagleton Institute of Politics poll
* out of 869 polled
GRAPHIC BY TAYLERE PETERSON/ DESIGN EDITOR
A poll by the Eagleton Institute of Politics indicates that 57 percent of the president’s voters plan to vote Democratic in future elections.
BY JUSTINE D’SOUZA CONTRIBUTING WRITER
OPINIONS The firing of faculty at a Rhode Island high school sparks debate over quality of education. UNIVERSITY . . . . . . . 3 OPINIONS . . . . . . . . 8 DIVERSIONS . . . . . . 10 CLASSIFIEDS . . . . . . 12 SPORTS . . . . . . BACK
DAILYTARGUM.COM
Based on Obama’s campaign slogan “change we can believe in,” N.J. registered voters were asked how fast things are changing. *
Community splashes into Passion Puddle clean-up
AWARENESS BASH
ONLINE @
SEE POLL ON PAGE 4
ISIAH STEWART
Students line up for dinner and dancing at “Live. Love. Be. HIV/AIDS Awarness Ball” Saturday at the College Avenue Gym.
With the official start of spring about a week away, more than 100 University students sprung into action Saturday morning to clean up Passion Puddle on the Cook campus, as part of New Jersey Public Interest Research Group Student Chapters’ Water Watch. Although the cleanup began at the man-made lake, it extended to the rest of the Cook/Douglass campus and to Route 18. A lot of trash accumulates in and around Passion Puddle because of runoff during the winter, said Eric Struble, event coordinator for New Jersey Community Water Watch. The cleanup helps get the area clean for the upcoming season. “We decided that this is the way to star t spring with a cleaner campus,” he said. Because Passion Puddle flows into the Raritan River, keeping it clean helps eliminate pollution in the Raritan itself, which is the 13th-most polluted river in the country, Struble said. “We are out here cleaning not only to beautify the Rutgers campus but also because we want to do our part to clean the Raritan River,” he said. “We could stop
the [pollution] problem before it even gets to the Raritan River.” School of Arts and Sciences firstyear student Edwin Olivas heard about the cleanup on Facebook and decided to attend to improve the cleanliness of the campus. “The cleaner [the campus] is, the better it is for us,” Lopez said. Others, like Sigma Kappa member Alexandra Menillo, participated as part of different University organizations. “One of our [sorority] sisters is involved with NJPIRG, and she was helping organize the cleanup, so we decided to support her,” said Menillo, a School of Arts and Sciences sophomore. “We live on this campus, so it’s convenient.” She said the Cook/Douglass campus is naturally beautiful and should be kept trash-free. “It’s a really pretty campus. There shouldn’t be trash,” Menillo said. Many clean-up workers also stressed the importance of maintaining Passion Puddle to help keep the campus trash-free. “I think Passion Puddle is an important part of Douglass and therefore needs to be taken care of,” said
SEE PUDDLE ON PAGE 4