hiv/aids Those infected with diseases should alert partners before sexual intercourse without protection
Neuroscience RU BRAIN hosts multiple events to raise awareness of neuroscience and mental health
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WRESTLING Theobold, Ashnault earn All-American status for Rutgers
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Viral video raises $1K for Dance Marathon Sophie Nieto-Munoz staff writer
When it comes to fundraising money, things that generally come to mind are canning, bake sales or posting excessively on social media to raise awareness. But Anthony Mollica raised more than $500 under very different circumstances. The School of Arts and Sciences junior woke up Wednesday with money pouring into his Rutgers University Dance Marathon (RUDM) fundraising page, and he said he looked at the names and did not know who the donors were. Mollica, a captain for the Dancer Relations Team of RUDM, told his friends about all these donations and that is when he found out — an old video of him dancing had ended up on the front page of Reddit. Reddit, known as “the front page of the internet,” is one of the web’s biggest sites, an online social media community where users post and vote on content. The more
“upvotes” content receives, the more likely the post will move to the front page, where the most popular links are shown. Mollica’s video was upvoted nearly 25,000 times, which is how it landed on the front page — for the whole internet to watch. The 32-second video, titled “Anthony’s Fundraising Video,” is an edited clip of him shaking his hips and making awkward and funny faces. Although this video blew up just this week, the video has been on his Facebook for a year, he said. “I actually was filming a segment for a TV show for RU-tv and I was waiting for the director in the control room to hit record. Little did I know, he was recording. He then decided to make this funny video on his own time afterward, and we shared it on Facebook last March,” Mollica said. He said his friends went back to his old Facebook content and just started liking old posts, and
School of Arts and Sciences junior Anthony Mollica says a video of him dancing was posted to Reddit without his permission and used to promote his Dance Marathon fundraising page. He has raised over $1,000 so far. KIRA HERZOG / NEWS EDITOR the video happened to resurface. He used that opportunity to link his RUDM fundraising link and raise money. His family and friends reacted, giving the post more than 100 likes and donating money to him. But then, there was a plot twist, he said. “I wake up … to a bunch of emails that I was given donations and I looked at the names and
had no idea who they were,” he said. “At first I was confused and I thought it was my friends joking around and donating money under fake names.” Mollica, who has never used Reddit, said it felt cool to be on the front page of the site because people are donating to his page, but since he has no idea who posted the video to the site or Youtube, he feels a bit uncomfortable.
Upcoming RUSA election will use party-like system Nicholas Simon staff writer
From March 22 to March 24, the Rutgers University Student Assembly (RUSA) will hold its annual spring elections. The elections will give undergraduates the opportunity to vote for student representatives who will decide what the assembly will focus on next year, said Anish Patel, the head of the RUSA Elections Committee. “(Elected students) will set the agenda for what issues RUSA is going to tackle,” the School of Arts and Sciences senior said. “What they want to advocate for, what they want to lobby the administration for, what they want to lobby the state government for — all of those things are decided by this election.” Election results will be announced on March 30, with a swearing in ceremony slated for April 6 and the first official meeting of the new body to be held on April 13, according to the 2017 Elections Guidelines. Students can vote for candidates online on the getINVOLVED website using any internet-connected device, Patel said. There are currently 39 positions available. In order to run for any of these positions, students have to be enrolled
full-time for the 2017 Spring and Fall semesters, maintain above a 2.5 GPA and cannot be on academic or disciplinary probation, according to the guidelines. Patel said there are requirements that are specific to the various RUSA positions as well. Students seeking a position can campaign as part of a “ticket,” which is defined by the guidelines as a “grouping of candidates under a unified banner.” As of now, there are two tickets campaigning — Rutgers Rise and Knights for Change Both tickets are advocating for the prevention of sexual violence, increased college affordability and the de-stigmatization of issues surrounding mental health, according to the Rutgers Rise and Knights for Change websites. Evan Covello, a presidential candidate for Rutgers Rise and a School of Arts and Sciences junior, said Rutgers Rise’s platform varied from Knights for Change’s in several ways. Rutgers Rise, unlike Knights for Change, plans to address the student organization funding crisis, advocate for a University holiday on Election Day, get a student vote on the University Board of Governors and demand that the University test the water supply for lead, Covello said.
“I wish it was just something for my friends and I to enjoy and not this whole internet thing,” he said. “I wish people would just donate and not make memes and other edits of my video. I don’t like that people are now profiting off of mine and my friend’s work.” But people are donating to Mollica. He said before the video went See video on Page 4
U. supercomputer not fully functioning after coolant leak Nikhilesh De correspondent
Covello said having members with these credentials makes Rutgers Rise better suited to address issues that appear on both tickets’ platforms, like college af fordability. “A lot of the teams throughout each year in RUSA elections say that they want to address (issues like) college affordability,” Covello said. “But the difference is not all
Rutgers University’s new supercomputer has been in a state of partial operation since January when a seal burst, leaking coolant and preventing the system from working as designed. The cooling system broke about two months ago, forcing the shutdown of the complete Caliburn supercomputer, said Manish Parashar, a distinguished professor in the Department of Computer Science. The computer itself did not break, only the cooling system in the facility the computer is located in. “On one of the cold mornings in January, one of the seals for the cooling system broke, causing the coolant to leak,” he said. “So the cooling in the system was not sufficient to create the right environment, so we shut down Caliburn until (University Facilities) was able to fix it.” The computer was shut down to prevent damage from excessive heat. The system has been online since last June, though it only
See party on Page 5
See LEAK on Page 5
The Rutgers University Student Assembly (RUSA) candidates have divided into two tickets — Rutgers Rise and Knights for Change — for its elections, which will take place March 22 to March 24. WIKIMEDIA COMMONS Covello, RUSA’s current vice president, said he thought Rutgers Rise candidates had more experience than Knights for Change candidates as well. Covello’s running mates include vice presidential candidate Christie Schweighardt, a School of Arts and Sciences junior and RUSA’s current chief of staff, and candidate for treasurer Shannon Chang, a Rutgers Business School junior and RUSA’s current treasurer.
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