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MONDAY MARCH 22, 2010
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Today: Rain
HAWKEYE KNOCKOUT
High: 63 • Low: 48
The Rutgers women’s basketball team’s season came to an end this weekend after Iowa topped the Knights 70-63 with an impressive three-point shooting performance.
U. officials respond to student ideas
State budget cuts down on college funds
BY NEIL P. KYPERS
BY GREG FLYNN
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
An all-star crew of University administrators presented their solutions manual to the issues brought up at the Nov. 5 Rutgers University Student Assembly town hall meeting and during “What’s on Your Mind Month.” At the town hall portion of the March 11 Rutgers University Student Assembly meeting — the first since February — administrators distributed a 24-page report detailing all the requests and the actions, if any, being taken to address the issues students raised last November. “This is probably the most comprehensive effort to assess and respond to student issues I have seen on my watch,” said University President Richard L. McCormick at the meeting. The administration addressed issues ranging from extending library hours, increasing the printing allowance for Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy students, adding more buses and increasing vegetarian options at the dining halls. “In many instances, arriving at our answers was a matter of redirecting resources … in other cases, we were already in the process of fixing the problem that you identified,” McCormick said. “Still in other cases, we found that your concern was based on misinformation, and we’ve sought to clarify the matter.” The administration has made a commitment to not only solving student life issues but improving classroom quality as well, he said. “It’s a three-year process, and we
SEE OFFICIALS ON PAGE 6
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Gov. Chris Christie’s budget address last Tuesday proposes to slash funds from many public universities and other state agencies in an effort to balance the state’s billion-dollar deficit.
For many University students, a higher education in New Jersey may soon require deeper pockets. Gov. Chris Christie’s proposed fiscal year 2011 budget aims to reduce the state’s multibillion-dollar deficit by cutting into state funding, which puts $173 million in allocations for higher education on the chopping block. In a letter to the University community, University President Richard L. McCormick said the University’s direct state operating aid during the next academic year would be cut 15.1 percent and would be $46.6 million lower than the University’s original appropriation for the current fiscal year. The final University budget will not be imposed until after the state’s budget is reviewed, modified and enacted by the legislature, which must be done by June 30.
SEE FUNDS ON PAGE 4
SPRING BREAK STORM STRIKES CAMPUS FACILITIES The first weekend of Spring Break saw a bluster y storm make its way through the New Br unswick area disr upting power, bringing down trees and flooding roads and residences. “We had, much like the rest of the state, many of the same problems,” said Antonio Calcado, vice president of facilities and capital planning. “We lost 30 mature trees here in New Brunswick/Piscataway. That’s a pretty significant number — that’s trees that are generally 30 to 45 feet in height.” Some buildings flooded because pumps could not keep up, he said. Two roofs were lost at the Livingston campus compound where University Facilities is located. There were dozens of leaks and a power outage on both Cook and Douglass campus from the evening of March 13 to 7 a.m. the next day, Calcado said.
The Rutgers Indoor Practice and Conditioning Facility on Busch campus, also known as the bubble, collapsed due to the storm. The University this week expects to fix and re-inflate the facility. Cook campus was hit hardest due to the loss of power, flooding on Route 18 and fallen trees, Calcado said. Fortunately, the storm came at a time that most of the housing buildings were empty due to Spring Break, he said. But there was some relocation of students, which was done through housing. “It was fortuitous that it happened this weekend, because even the upcoming weekend would have been more difficult already because students [are] coming back,” Calcado said. But the University was prepared with a system to deal with the worst the storm could bring, he said. An emergency operations group
was activated Saturday, and the availability of resources like emergency generators and bucket trucks helped with the recovery. The storm did take its toll financially, costing around $100,000 after all the costs are accounted for, Calcado said. “From overtime costs of bringing people in to the cleanup effort in and of itself, we don’t have the final numbers … based on previous experience it will be up there,” he said. Although the storm has passed, University Facilities is working to prepare the campus for students returning from spring break. “One of the things that we need to do is to carefully look at the trees … at what’s hanging,” Calcado said. “We need to and have been looking at these things and doing inspections.”
Historic campus to trace roots at annual event CONTRIBUTING WRITER
THE DAILY TARGUM
Visitors watch the University’s marching band and dance team at last year’s first annual Rutgers Day on the Busch campus.
INDEX UNIVERSITY
BY DEVIN SIKORSKI More than 50,000 people attended last year’s inaugural Rutgers Day, and University students, faculty members and alumni are preparing to top the previous exhibition of the state university of New Jersey. Rutgers Day, scheduled to take place on April 24, will consist of more than 430 programs on every campus, providing the public with a window into what students and academic departments here have to offer. “Rutgers is the state university of New Jersey, and we serve the people and communities of the state,” College Avenue campus Dean Matt Matsuda said via email correspondence. “Yet, if you would ask, many [New Jersey] residents might say that they actually know little about what a great research university does.” The College Avenue campus this year will offer an array of activities that exhibit the rich history of that campus. There will be walking tours of a Revolutionar y War battlefield and the first residence hall at the University, according to a University press release. Visitors will also be able to see the
— Neil P. Kypers
architecture on the campus, such as Kirkpatrick Chapel and the Old Queens building. “Interestingly, during the semester, not many students spend much time in the Old Queens part of College Avenue,” Matsuda said. “But as the historic beginnings of the University are there, both current students and proud alums can be engaged in [the] ceremony.” Visitors will have the opportunity to ring Henry Rutger’s bell located in the Old Queens building and interact with costumed actors representing famous people from the campus’ history, he said. The Old Queens building was not a popular attraction last year, but the University is working to change that, Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs Delia Pitts said. “There was so much activity going on further down in the [Voorhees] Mall that many visitors did not come over,” she
SEE ROOTS ON PAGE 6
The Campus MovieFest supplied more than 50 teams with equipment to create a five-minute film.
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MARCH 22, 2010
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WEATHER OUTLOOK Courtesy of the Weather Channel WEDNESDAY HIGH 64 LOW 40
TUESDAY HIGH 63 LOW 42
THURSDAY HIGH 59 LOW 40
TODAY Rain, with a high of 63° TONIGHT Rain, with a low of 48°
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142ND EDITORIAL BOARD NEIL P. KYPERS . . . . . . . . . . EDITOR-IN-CHIEF MARY DIDUCH . . . . . . . . . . MANAGING EDITOR ARIEL NAGI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . NEWS STEVEN MILLER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SPORTS JOVELLE ABBEY TAMAYO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PHOTOGRAPHY TAYLERE PETERSON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DESIGN STACY DOUEK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . INSIDE BEAT ALEKSI TZATZEV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . OPINIONS NANCY SANTUCCI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . COPY KRISTINE ROSETTE ENERIO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . UNIVERSITY ARTHUR ROMANO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ONLINE AYMANN ISMAIL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MULTIMEDIA RAMON DOMPOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ASSOCIATE PHOTOGRAPHY BILL DOMKE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ASSOCIATE SPORTS ALEX JANKOWSKI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ASSOCIATE SPORTS EMILY BORSETTI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ASSOCIATE COPY MICHAEL MALVASIO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ASSOCIATE INSIDE BEAT
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T H E D A I LY TA R G U M
UNIVERSITY
MARCH 22, 2010
PA G E 3
Film competition to spotlight amateur talent BY JEFF PRENTKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER
The bright lights of Hollywood will come to the University this week as Campus MovieFest, the world’s largest student film festival, makes its way to the Banks for the first time in its eight-year history. Sponsored by the Rutgers University Programming Association, the competition will provide student filmmakers with the equipment needed to create their own five-minute films to compete for prizes and the chance to have their film screened at both regional and national levels, said Sera Bayruns, vice president of RUPA’s Films and Media Committee. More than 50 teams from the University have already signed up for Campus MovieFest, which is open to all aspiring student filmmakers regardless of previous experience or skill level, she said. “We want to give people that have absolutely no experience in
film the chance to see what it’s like to be a filmmaker,” said Bayruns, a School of Arts and Sciences junior. “That’s the thing about this event, it’s open to anyone no matter what your skills are.” Campus MovieFest will provide the University teams with an Apple laptop, a Panasonic HD camcorder and 24-hour tech support, to create and edit their films, she said. The films, which must be under five minutes and free of discriminating or excessively graphic content, will be judged by students involved in either RUPA or a film club at the University and possibly a representative from the cinema studies department, a dean or an administrator, she said. The top-16 films will be screened at a red carpet finale on April 6 at the Cook Campus Center with the best films moving on to the regional grand finale in May in New York City and showcased on
AT&T phones and in-flight movies on Virgin America airlines, according to the festival’s Web site. The best films in the regional competition will advance to the Campus MovieFest Grand Finale
“This event [is] open to anyone no matter what your skills are.” SERA BAYRUNS RUPA Films and Media Committee Vice President
at the Wynn Las Vegas in June, according to the site. Students at the school level will compete for prizes like iPod nanos or shuf fles, a copy of Final Cut Studio and an Elgato eyeTV hybrid in categories for best picture, best comedy and best drama, according to the site.
The free filming equipment will be distributed at the Douglass Campus Center on Tuesday, the deadline for students to sign up for the festival, Bayruns said. Students can sign up for the festival by visiting the festival site at www.campusmoviefest.com. Participating students will be given six days to finish their films, which are due March 29. Frank Piccirillo, a member of Knight Time Productions, a campus television and film organization, said the organization is pleased that Campus MovieFest is coming to the University. “Not only does it get our name out there, but it gives people who aren’t involved in our club the chance to get involved with movie making in general,” said Piccirillo, a School of Arts and Sciences first-year student. “There are so many talented directors, actors and screenwriters at Rutgers that are just itching to get their stuff out
there. It’s a great opportunity that we are given.” For the festival, Piccirillo plans to direct a movie with more of a creepy feeling, something that would make the audience feel uncomfortable and on-edge. Dominick Nero, a School of Arts and Sciences first-year student and a standup comedian, is working with his roommate to film a comedy skit. He hopes to win the competition’s best comedy prize. “I think it’s a really good opportunity for people to get involved with filmmaking,” Nero said. “Especially since it’s so accessible to ever ybody since they give you the free camera and the tripod and everything, it gives people the chance to do something that they probably wouldn’t normally do.” More than 75,000 students nationwide are expected to participate in this year’s Campus MovieFest, which will feature more than 50 schools nationwide, according to the site.
UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS RECOGNIZED FOR NOTABLE RESEARCH The American Physical Society awarded two University professors with $10,000 each last week in Portland, Ore., to recognize their outstanding research contributions, according to a University Media Relations press release. The society awarded physics Professors SangWook Cheong and Daniel Friedan for their contributions to condensed matter physics, which deals with the physical proper ties of solid and liquid matter. Cheong, director of the Rutgers Center for Emergent Materials, received the society’s James
C. McGroddy Prize for New Materials, which recognizes his work in understanding a class of materials called “multiferroics.” These materials have the potential to improve semiconductor electronics, boost solar cell efficiency and increase the data storage capacity of hard disk drives. Cheong shares the award with professors conducting similar research at the University of California, Santa Barbara and the University of California, Berkeley. The society awarded Friedan, a member of the Rutgers New High Energy Theor y Center, the
Lars Onsager Prize for mathematical descriptions of how complex materials behave. Friedan shares the award with Stanford University’s Stephen Shenker, who was a physics professor at the University from 1989 to 1998. Their work examined “critical phenomena,” where a material’s phases such as solid, liquid and gas converge or coexist. Their formulas specify critical phenomena types present in nature and theoretical models. — Mary Diduch
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U NIVERSITY
MARCH 22, 2010
WOODBRIDGE CONSIDERS CUTTING KINDERGARTEN On the verge of a possible 33 percent cut in state aid, Woodbridge Township School District is considering cutting kindergarten classes all together to save money. District Superintendent John Crowe made the announcement Friday, and said the suggestion was made in an e-mail from Middlesex County Superintendent of Schools Patrick Piegari, according to an article on injersey.com. “We had no idea that anything like a 33.2 percent cut in state aid would hit our district,” Crowe said, according to the article. “Why, in the days leading up to the funding announcement, we were even hearing that it might even be close to flat funding.” The school board Friday evening voted to send the county school official a preliminary budget for next year reflecting a loss of more than $8 million in state aid, according to the article. The state Department of Education on Thursday revealed the amount. Unlike most school districts in the state, Woodbridge’s kindergarten classes are already half-days. The public will be able to get its first look at the budget at a meeting tomorrow at Colonia Middle School in Woodbridge. The board will discuss the budget at a meeting Thursday at 6 p.m. at Woodbridge Middle School. — Ariel Nagi
T H E DA I LY TA R G U M
Fee increase to help fund club sports NEIL P. KYPERS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
The Rutgers University Student Assembly voted before Spring Break to begin funding club sports at the University and is increasing the school fee from $71 to $81. The decision will be sent to referendum for the next academic year. Increased programming costs and a need for club sport funding are the main causes for raising the fee, which has remained the same since 2007, though the number of organizations at the University increased from 250 to 360. “We don’t have the power to simply increase [funding],” RUSA Chair Werner Born said. “[Our decisioin] sends [the fee increase] to referendum for the University students [to decide].” RUSA hopes to include the fee increase and its new constitution in the same referendum so students do not need to go through three referendums — the two for RUSA and another for The Daily Targum — this year, Born, a School of Engineering senior, said. Sport clubs previously received funding from a Rutgers College fee, but under the undergraduate school consolidation in 2007, the fee no longer exists.
Now students have to pay to unfunded programs,” said play and fundraise in order to balSaleh, School of Ar ts and ance their club budgets. Sciences junior. “In order to The bill, which passed unanmaintain the diversity of proimously on March 11, allocates gramming on campus, we have $2 per semester from the no choice but to increase the school fee for the sport clubs student fee.” executive board, which will Eric Kaplan, student reprethen distribute funds as its sentative for the Board of members see fit. Governors, said he has no objecIncreases would increase tion to the fee increase but wants available RUSA people to underAllocations fees stand that the goal by 8 percent. “There is no reason is not to make a The sport habit of adding not to fund them club allocation excessive fees to process is similar students’ term because ... $10 is to the manner in bills. which profession“Allocations has chump change.” al schools, like known we were CODY GORMAN the Engineering going to need to School of Arts and Sciences Gover ning raise the student sophomore Council, allocate fee … and it’s their funds, being done right at Born said. the last minute,” But since the $2 is under an Kaplan, a School of Arts and umbrella fee, there is no way to Sciences junior, said. opt out of paying the sport club More input and discussion is fee, said RUSA Treasurer needed on the topic, and it Shayna Davis. should not have been pushed on Sport clubs only make up the body this late in the semester, part of the need to increase the he said. overall fee by $10, RUSA ViceUltimate Frisbee Club Chair Yousef Saleh said. The President Geoffrey Irving was other part is the rate of proexcited when he heard the news gram growth at the University. and said this is a step in the “If we don’t [increase school right direction. fees] you are going to get a lot “My team has systematically more complaints and a lot more lost more and more funding
from the University where our numbers have been growing and growing every year,” said Ir ving, a School of Arts and Sciences junior. The team pays dues ranging from $40 to $120, he said. They also pay for the six to seven tournaments members attend each semester. Soccer Club team member Sean Matteo knows first-hand that having to pay out-of-pocket can put a constraint on enjoying a fun sport. “It was hard last semester because we would have to drive to games and if we needed to stay anywhere it was us funding [the trip],” said Matteo, a School of Engineering first-year student. Yet Calvin Kwon, a Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy sophomore, said the fee should be elective, as not all students are involved in club sports. “I think [an optional fee] is a better option, but I don’t think everyone would pay for that,” Kwon said. “It’s a hard decision.” Since the fee increase is just $10, funding for club spor ts is a good thing, said Cody Gorman, a School of Ar ts and Sciences sophomore. “There is no reason not to fund them, because they get no funding and $10 is chump change,” he said.
FUNDS: University aid
2011 budget includes $262.778 million in aid. The University’s budget was risks hitting lowest since 1994 $881 million in 1994, she said. The current year’s budget is continued from front $1.9 billion with state aid comprising 24 percent. When the state’s budget is The budget has grown cut, the University looks for because grants and contracts, other sources of revenue, defers tuition and fees, student housing expenditures and cuts its own and dining have increased, budget, Vice President for Winterbauer said. University Budgeting Nancy S. Still, many of these new revWinterbauer said. enues are not available to sub“We will be looking at effistitute for lost state support, ciencies and cutting costs and she said. finding ways to save money,” The proposed state budget she said. “But we’ve had cuts reduces funding for Tuition Aid that are so significant over the Grants and the Educational last four years, that it’s difficult Opportunity Fund to find new and does not proefficiencies after “I’m sure that vide funding for you’ve been incoming freshdown this road people at the men in the NJ several times.” STARS scholarSince student University are ship program, education is fundworking very hard McCormick said ed largely in part in the letter. by student tuition with what Federal stimuand fees and state they have. lus money helped appropriations, soften the blow cuts in state fundJOHN ASPRAY of a cut of roughing mean the School of Arts and Sciences ly 5 percent to University must junior the University’s either cut back state aid last services or raise year, but such funds will not be tuition to substitute for lost state available this time around, dollars, Winterbauer said. Winterbauer said. “We are certainly looking at “I don’t see a similar white tr ying to not do double-digit horse over the horizon this year,” [percent] tuition increases,” she said. “New Jersey doesn’t she said. “I can assure you have any more stimulus money we’re going to do ever ything to that it could use to plug the hole keep the tuition increase as in the higher education.” reasonable as possible.” In addition to stimulus dollars, New Jersey already had the faculty and staff unions’ agreesecond-highest average pubments to defer $30 million in conlished tuition and fees for intractually obligated salar y state students at public fourincreases helped alleviate finanyear colleges and universities cial troubles, Winterbauer said. at $11,167 in the 2009 to 2010 The University should be able academic year, according to a to honor its recently negotiated College Board report. memorandums, Union of Rutgers If the cuts were enacted, the Administrators-American University’s operating aid would Federation of Teacher President be at its lowest since 1994, Lucye Millerand said. McCormick said. “Rutgers management In fiscal year 1994, the should not have trouble financUniversity received $254.461 miling our raises, and quite frankly, lion in state funding, Winterbauer they shouldn’t have trouble said. The proposed fiscal year
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The proposed fiscal year 2011 budget reduces funding for Tuition Aid Grants and the Educational Opportunity Fund program. It would eliminate funding for incoming freshmen in NJ STARS. keeping the number of faculty and staff that are needed to run this university,” Millerand said. “Executive hiring went on last year to an extent that I think is irresponsible.” University spokesman E.J. Miranda said the president’s cabinet and other senior administrators did not receive pay raises this year either. Together, the two American Federation of Teacher-affiliated locals represent more than 7,500 faculty and staff positions at the University. Staff contribute to the University’s mission by bringing
in money for financial aid and making aid accessible, assisting research at the library, keeping campuses clean and performing other jobs that keep the University operating, Millerand said. “We are not overstaffed in any area,” she said. “We’re not a drag on the University. We’re part of the engine.” Rutgers University Student Assembly representative John Aspray hopes to work with the University to increase transparency. He said if comprehensive budget information, which explains how dif ferent depar tments are funded and
how that money was spent, were readily available, students could contribute more productively to the University’s budget process. “The line coming out of Trenton may be that the University is a huge, bloated bureaucracy that is corrupt, but I don’t think that’s true,” said Aspray, a School of Arts and Sciences junior. “I’m sure that people at the University are working ver y hard with what they have. If you increase transparency, you can dispel a lot of those rumors. If it’s true, it’ll come out as true.”
U NIVERSITY
T H E DA I LY TA R G U M
MARCH 22, 2010
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Researchers receive funding to rerank tweets BY JOE GESSNER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
A University research team is working to revolutionize Twitter’s search engine and develop a better way to search through user tweets. Funded through a $60,000 grant from Google, Mor Naaman, an assistant professor in the School of Communication and Information, and a team of University researchers will try to create a search engine on the popular social networking Web site that returns the most popular and relevant tweets first instead of the most recent. The team will also work to devise ways to rank the credibility of Twitter users, Naaman said. “The goal is to develop a better way to reason about ranking in the Twitter network,” he said. “Being able to rank better on Twitter will help us make a step forward in making these types of networks more useful and effective as communication systems.”
Google includes Twitter messages in its search results. Finding the most reliable and credible tweets are important to the corporation, Naaman said. He said Twitter and other social networking media are becoming an important means of communication, but little is known about how the information posted on these Web sites can be used. “These systems have already shown considerable impact on the information, communication and media infrastructure of our entire society,” Naaman said. “But at the same time we still do not know how to effectively use the information posted on these platforms.” Jeffrey Boase, an assistant professor with the School of Communication and Information and a member of Naaman’s research team, agrees that social networking sites are growing in popularity and provide new
opportunities for researchers to study communication processes. “Twitter is an example of an emerging form of communication and it opens up new opportunities for understanding some fundamentals of the communication process,” Boase said. With his background in sociology and computer science, Boase said he is able to draw on theories from these fields to study why certain influences occur on Twitter and whether algorithms can be created to see how certain theories match with reality. Naaman, who has a doctorate in personal information management and worked at Yahoo! Research Berkeley for three years before coming to the University, has extensive experience with social networking media. During his time at Yahoo! most of his attention was devoted to Flickr, which Naaman said was the first popular “Web 2.0” social media platform.
His research at the University aims to understand both the social and technical aspects that govern activity in these Web sites. Naaman and his research team have been collecting tweets to use for their research since September and so far have collected more than 200 million tweets. He hopes these tweets will help answer questions like what kind of information about the nation’s cities, habits and society can be extracted from tweets. The research team is composed of three PhD students in addition to Naaman and Boase. Each student has a different background, which helps to give several different points of view, Boase said. “It’s a good example of how researchers from different disciplines can join forces to do innovative research,” he said. Shannon Kemp, a School of Arts and Sciences senior and occasional Twitter user, said
because Twitter is relatively new, it makes sense that its search engine wouldn’t be as good as Google’s. But she looks for ward to changes to social networking sites’ search engines. “I think it’s time that Twitter comes up with a better search engine,” Kemp said. “I think people now realize it’s not going to fade away into obscurity.” Kemp said Twitter proved to be an important line of communication when Iranian anti-government protesters used the site last year to expose images and videos when the government shut down the media. Twitter users were able to expose the abuses of the protesters when there were no journalists around to report on it, transforming the site from a means of self-promotion into an extremely important site, she said. “If you think about it, it’s incredible,” she said.
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Students considering living in off-campus housing can learn their rights as a tenant at “Tenants’ Rights in New Jersey,” scheduled to be held from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. in Room 410 of the Rutgers Student Center on the College Avenue campus. A guest speaker from the Housing Coalition of Central NJ will discuss topics regarding tenants, landlords, leases, security deposits and other issues regarding living off campus. Visit ruoffcampus.rutgers.edu for more information.
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Editors from The Daily Targum will hold a writers meeting for current and prospective writers at 9:30 p.m. in the SLounge on the 4th floor of the Rutgers Student Center on the College Avenue campus. They will assign stories and answer questions about writing articles. No previous writing experience is required, and anyone interested is welcome to attend.
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Sacred Sounds is back at 8:30 p.m. in the Busch Campus Center Multipurpose Room. The evening will feature musical meditations, exotic drumming and dance as well as world-famous Kirtan bands As Kindred Spirits and Mayapuris. Those interested should RSVP and get updates at www.bhakticlub.org.
COURTESY OF REBECCA SAMPAYO
Those who want to teach fun science projects and arts and crafts to middle school students are welcome to attend a Rutgers in the Community meeting at 9 p.m. in Room 112 of Murray Hall on the College Avenue campus. For more information, contact Sean Lo at seanlo@eden.rutgers.edu. The Rutgers Chemistry Society will welcome a veteran of science demonstrations who will display many exciting experiments that can be used for events such as Rutgers Day and Outreach. The meeting will take place at 8:30 p.m. in Room A260 of the Wright-Rieman building on Busch campus and is mandatory for all members who signed up for the Outreach Program. Leo, the coordinator, will be going over the planned experiments as well as information regarding scheduling, presentations and transportation. If you cannot make it to this meeting, please contact him ASAP at Lgarber@eden.rutger.edu or at (551)-206-8939.
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All interested photographers are welcome to attend The Daily Targum photographers’ meeting in Room 403 of the Rutgers Student Center on the College Avenue campus. The meeting will take place from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. We will be holding a weekly photographers’ meeting to discuss important housekeeping business, assign events and facilitate several workshopping activities. Pizza will be served. The exhibit, “Perspectives Through the Lens: Soviet Art Photography in the 1970s-80s,” ends today in the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum on the College Avenue campus. This collection presents a selection of more than 60 photographs from the Norton and Nancy Dodge Collection of Soviet Nonconformist Art by Francisco Infante, Vladimir Kupriyanov, Boris Mikhailov and Aleksandr Slyusarev, four major Soviet artists working with photography in the ’70s and ’80s.
To have your event featured on www.dailytargum.com, send University calendar items to university@dailytargum.com.
Grassroots coordinator Samuel Obergh speaks on the steps of Capitol Hill alongside House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and many other college students across the nation in support of the Student Aid Bill.
NJPIRG snaps image of student debt BY JESSICA URIE CONTRIBUTING WRITER
In support of the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, New Jersey Interest Research Group Student chapters will present a photo-petition toward the end of the month to state senators. The petition differs from usual petitions because rather than signing, students were photographed with a sign displaying how much debt they will be in when they graduate, said Sarah Clader, an NJPIRG employee and University alumna. “It puts a face to the amount of money that [students] owe, making it a lot more personal,” said NJPIRG Campaign Coordinator Mohamed Eladawy. Eladawy, a School of Engineering junior, hopes the personal nature of the photo-petitions will translate into more support for the bill. “It’s a really attention-getting way to do a petition that really puts a face on the problem of student debt,” Clader said. NJPIRG began collecting photographs of students on campus about a month ago by setting up tables outside, Grassroots Coordinator Samuel Obergh said. The SAFRA bill is intended to increase federal student aid by cutting the federal subsidies that are granted to banks that provide student loans, Eladawy said. The money used for subsidies would then go directly to the students.
The bill will invest millions of dollars in the Federal Pell Grant and in a grant program for community colleges, according to the Committee on Education and Labor Web site. It will also invest in programs to improve access to college and in institutions that historically serve minorities. “It’s trying to eliminate the middle man between federal student aid and the students themselves,” Eladawy said. “It creates a direct
“[The petition] puts a face to the amount of money that [students] owe, making it a lot more personal.” MOHAMED ELADAWY NJPIRG Campaign Coordinator
connection between the federal government and the students.” The bill will constitute one of the largest increases in federal aid in United States histor y, Clader said. “A college education is getting more and more necessary in our society and it’s getting more and more difficult to afford,” she said. The Pell Grant has not increased with inflation, Clader said. The bill would help make up the difference.
“Cutting the subsidies frees up $40 million to increase federal aid,” she said. Student debt delays graduates’ ability to buy homes and start families, Clader said. It prevents some students from pursuing fields such as teaching, a social work that pay less than other careers, because the students have to worry about their ability to repay their loans. “What students can do is contact their senators and let them know how important this bill is to them,” Eladawy said. “The more students that contact the Senate, the more you show that there is actually support for this bill.” One of the main problems PIRG faces is the public’s general lack of knowledge about the bill. “Although this seems like a really great bill, no one knows about it. And that’s one of the biggest issues, that no one knows that this is actually going on,” Eladawy said. Clader said private lending corporation Sallie Mae opposes the bill. In response to the opposition, PIRG will be hosting “Take a Swing at Sallie Mae” later this week outside of Brower Commons on the College Avenue campus. Regardless, Obergh, a School of Arts and Sciences sophomore, is confident NJPIRG’s efforts will have an impact. “When you see a face next to $20,000 or $30,000 in debt, it becomes a little bit more personal. It gives the numbers a face,” he said.
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MARCH 22, 2010
U NIVERSITY
HONORS SOCIETY HELPS COMMUNITY FILE TAXES
JOKING FOR A CAUSE
JING YOU
Assemblyman John Bramnick, known as the funniest politician in New Jersey, entertains the crowd with a line of jokes Thursday at an Elijah’s Promise Soup Kitchen fundraiser at the Crossroads Theater downtown.
ROOTS: Event to highlight Newark, Camden campus works continued from front said. “This year, we wanted to bring more visitors by offering more for them to see and do. There is going to be an array of food and fun activities for children surrounding the building, which was all organized by the alumni organization.” Rutgers Day activities on College Avenue will not be restricted to just the New Brunswick campus. It also will showcase some of the work from the Newark and Camden campuses, Matsuda said. Businesses and organizations around New Brunswick will also be involved in activities on the College Avenue campus, he said. “As [the College Avenue campus] is a ver y urban campus, directly integrated with neighborhoods around New Br unswick, the community
zone will bring in partners from city markets, cultural centers and public ser vices, like the fire and police departments,” Matsuda said. Campus deans and student groups will be cooperating to put on various programs, he said. “The deans will likely be operating one of the stages around the Bishop House area, fielding multicultural acts and talents and lending support to the numerous social action, philanthropic, community ser vice and greek-life organizations, connecting their charity and volunteer work to the public,” Matsuda said. “In short, [there will be] something for everyone.” Hilar y Smith, a School of Environmental and Biological Sciences junior, said Rutgers Day allows the surrounding community to take part in different activities and showcase the University. “Rutgers Day gets the word out about our school [to people] who might not know about us,”
T H E DA I LY TA R G U M
she said. “The activities allow both students and families to come and see our school.” Many students are also getting involved this year in holding events at Rutgers Day. More than a third of the programs will be student-run, according to the press release. Malay Pansheria, a School of Environmental and Biological Sciences junior, is the treasurer of Pilot Me, an organization whose members mentor underprivileged children in the community. Rutgers Day gives children a chance to get involved and exposes them to resources they may not know exist, Pansheria said. “I think it is a great opportunity for kids who are underprivileged to get to know about the University,” he said. “They usually don’t have the resources to find out about Rutgers, so it is a great way to let them know there is a college out there for them and that they can go.”
With the April 15 deadline for filing taxes quickly approaching, help from the Accounting and Finance Honors Society, Beta Alpha Psi, could not come at a better time. Volunteers from Beta Alpha Psi have come together once again to help the taxpayers of New Brunswick with their online filing in a program they call Volunteer Income Tax Assistance. The community service initiative began on Feb. 5 and will run until April 10. “[Librarians] like to reach out to the public, because a lot of them come into the library for help with filing their taxes and there’s only so much the librarians can do, so having Beta Alpha Psi help every year is great, especially with their expertise,” said Joye Crowe-Logan, a librarian at the New Brunswick Free Public Library. This community service project has been in action for a few years and offers New Brunswick taxpayers a beneficial and free service to help deal with their tax concerns, she said. Jennifer Lin, community service administrator of Beta Alpha Psi, oversees the volunteers at the New Brunswick Public Library while they are helping taxpayers with filing. She also volunteers every Saturday. “Part of our community service efforts is to prepare tax returns for low to middle class New Brunswick citizens,” said Lin, a Rutgers College senior. Beta Alpha Psi used to work with Emanuel CDC, an organization that also volunteers to help low-income tax holders, she said. Together, they coordinated tax returns, until Emanuel CDC went out of business due to financial reasons. The Accounting and Finance Honors Society is dedicated to giving their time to various other community ser vice projects, including working at Elijah’s Promise Soup Kitchen, but this specific community ser vice project is perfect for Beta Alpha Psi, Lin said. The VITA program is beneficial to both the public and the honors society, she said. “This program is good for our members because it specifically deals with accounting and that is what we know best,” Lin said. All meetings are held by appointment only on Fridays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. To make an appointment, call the library at (732)-745-5108, ext. 25, or visit the library at 60 Livingston Ave. during operating hours. — Rinal Shah
OFFICIALS: U. cannot
I don’t see a reframing of the argument.” McCormick said the budget grant longer dining hours deficit is so large there is no way Christie can do anything without continued from front damage all around. have dedicated $10.5 million to “I don’t think there is anything improving classrooms on the I could say, be it strident or be it New Brunswick/Piscataway humble or be it eloquent, or be it campuses, even when that is any combination of the above, spent … there will still be classthat would change the arithrooms in need of improvement metic,” he said. … we will do our best in the As the University faces the years ahead [to allocate looming Christie budget, RUSA is funds],” McCormick said. looking to leave University support But not all student requests and incorporate as an independent could be met. Meal swipe usage student organization, while still at restaurants in downtown retaining control of student fees. New Brunswick and longer din“Student government would be ing hall hours are just two similar to NJPIRG [New Jersey examples of requests the Public Intrest Research Group] and University cannot the Targum … if fulfill. the students were The full docu- “We will do our best to choose this ment can be found would [the in the years ahead path, online at the presiadministration] dent’s Web site. [to allocate funds].” support it?” said While the meetMatt Cordeiro, RICHARD L. MCCORMICK ing highlighted a School of University President areas that were Arts and Sciences raised previously, sophomore. students brought Executive Vice forth more issues, like the new President for Academic Affairs bandwidth policy, after the Philip J. Furmanski said if RUSA administration finished its pressought independence, the entation. University would be opposed to it Students also raised quesmainly because of the funds that tions relating to the University’s RUSA has control over. performance in securing funding “It’s not a question of the trust of for higher education. the students, and it’s not a question School of Arts and Science of the use of the money. It’s a quesjunior John Aspray called to tion of the separation of the responquestion McCormick’s policy sibility and of the authority from the and attitude in securing state accountability,” Furmanski said. funding, arguing that waiting Another element he raised with until next year to get better is incorporation was that the not enough. University would not engage in “Saying ‘Oh, I guess we will shared government with an outhave to wait until next year’ side organization, which is what isn’t the kind of leadership we RUSA would become. need — we need compelling “You see the entire leadership of arguments,” said Aspray, chair this University here tonight … of RUSA legislative af fairs about how to improve circumcommittee. “[Gov. Chris stances … and that’s something we Christie] is actually blaming are not going to do with an outside [the budget crisis] on you, and agency,” he said.
T H E DA I LY TA R G U M
PENDULUM 7
MARCH 22, 2010
Q:
What efforts — if any — do you take to green your life?
MIRANDA VANORDEN MASON GROSS FIRST-YEAR STUDENT “Usually when I see trash on the ground, I pick it up and throw it out. In our [residence halls], we have trash cans so we usually bring them down to the basement and we also recycle.”
QUOTABLE
“I pick up garbage that I see in [New] Brunswick, and I wait until I get to a recycling [bin] because there’s no reason not to.”
SPENCER KENT LIVINGSTON COLLEGE JUNIOR “I smoke less cigarettes. I’ll walk more. If I can walk instead of drive I’ll do that.”
MIKE EBERBACH — RUTGERS BUSINESS SCHOOL FIRST-YEAR STUDENT
BY THE NUMBERS
ALISON GIBBONS SAS JUNIOR “Actually, I just bought one of those [reusable] water bottles, so I’m going to stop using bottled water.”
Source: recyclemaniacs.org
11.4
63.36
The total amount of recycled pounds of paper per person in 2009 at the University
The total amount of waste per person in pounds last year at the University
CAMPUS TALK
WHICH WAY DOES RU SWAY?
The total amount of recyclable pounds last year at the University
BY KRISTINE ROSETTE ENERIO
2,131,378
AARON LEE SAS JUNIOR “I like to recycle and also I try to consume less … when I buy things I tend not to buy things which are disposable. I try to buy from companies that are more or less green or eco-friendly, although those are problematic in themselves.”
MELISSA SELLAM DOUGLASS COLLEGE SENIOR “I try to turn my lights off more often when I’m not home … if I’m not using it I really try to remember to turn it off.”
ONLINE RESPONSE Using more energyefficient appliances — 4%
Reusing and recycling packaging or bottles — 25%
Turning off electronics and lights when not in use — 45%
4%
Using more energy-efficient appliances
Nothing — 25%
Conserving water through means like shorter showers, etc. — 1%
Reusing and recycling packaging or bottles
25%
Conserving water through means like shorter showers, etc.
45%
Turning off lights and electronics when not in use
25%
Nothing THIS WEEK’ S QUESTION
How do you feel about Gov. Chris Christie’s budget proposal and its effect on the University? Cast your votes online and watch Multimedia footage at www.dailytargum.com
1%
T H E D A I LY TA R G U M
OPINIONS
PA G E 8
MARCH 22, 2010
EDITORIALS
Long-needed budget cuts correctly employed
W
ith Gov. Chris Christie’s proposal to cut funding from pretty much every sector of state spending, a great number of people stood up in opposition to the man that they elected several months ago. Despite these protests though, his cuts, which will affect education as well, might not be an unreasonable phenomena. With the surpluses in some state educational institutions, spending additional money to simply say that it was a fair financial allocation could be called excessive. If an institution has the money left over to operate at the same or close to usual terms, then a cut on part of the state would seem reasonable, if only to overturn the deficit that has reached the billions. The benefit or reason for the all-around cuts is the fact that the state cannot remain in a negative fiscal situation for as long as some of us may hope. The close to $11 billion deficit was a product of previous administrations, such as Gov. Jon S. Corzine’s — therefore a move on the part of our current governor was the only step left to take. Although this may not react as well with the majority of University students, the dynamic system of spending all that is given is somewhat to blame. The spending by the University would then be the only body to be accused for rash financial decisions and poorly spent funds. Christie’s plan would also affect other aspects of state spending, as he would, according to his budget address, decrease funding as minutely as possible, attempting to cut from each sector as little as possible. For example, cuts from state agriculture would be as much as 24 percent and those in banking would reach 12 percent. Education stands at a distant 8 percent cut, as Christie’s plan would simply be for every department to “tighten its belt.” According to his address, $2.9 billion of the budget gap was closed by changing the way state departments operate and at what budget they operate. And with regard to state education, as it is the foremost subject that relates to us, the University would simply have to resort to addressing faculty salaries and where cuts would have to be made. With the nixing of the Greening Project, we have already taken a cut and as long as education remains at the forefront of University President Richard L. McCormick’s plans, rather than increasing professors’ salaries, students will get through this seemingly rough process. If anything, we, as students, should worry about how the University takes these expected cuts and addresses our well-being as gently as it can, rather than standing up against Christie’s cuts — a series of fiscal reforms that have been long overdue.
Neither paper nor plastic
W
hat are we to do in a world of an ever-present debate of climate crisis and global warming? And while there are always two sides to that question, when it comes to simple measures that we could take to reduce waste, we must take every opportunity. In Baltimore, the question of “paper or plastic” is almost unnecessary as both bags already cost 25 cents apiece. And in San Francisco, the debate is even simpler: Plastic merchandise bags have been banned, leaving customers with the much more environmentally friendly, paper bags or reusable carriers. Although paper is not a bad option, reusable bags are the right choice for the millions of Americans who waste plastic bags by the dozen, with every trip to the local supermarket. Consumers are wasteful, perhaps even more so today than they were 10 years ago, and the fact that most of us go home carrying four or five plastic bags is not acceptable. Whether we throw those bags out or stuff them in a drawer for a rainy day, the reason for paper or reusable bags remains. While plastic is not biodegradable and takes much more energy to be recycled, paper is easily recycled and reused but is still part of waste and should be phased out over time. The 99 cents reusable bags are therefore the most sustainable option to date. One would only need a couple of them and they last forever in comparison to paper or plastic. Stores, while they seem to only be grabbing at customers’ pockets with these dollar-bags, are simply pushed forward by city and state environmental laws — ones that serve us all in the long term. The problem is that, in addition to waste, people are also forgetful or lazy. Even if one does buy a bag or two that can be reused, they would probably time and time again forget the bag at home. Perhaps then, there is or will be a better way to clean our towns, but until then, reusable bags and paper bags are our only safe choices. Fees for plastic or paper bags seem to be necessary until we learn to use non-disposable bags. The 90-or-so cents would be nothing but a lesson for society in order to make it accustomed to living in the 21st century. Cities like Baltimore, San Francisco and the Outer Banks of North Carolina have taken a path that many others still need to follow. Until then we will be faced with the dilemma of paper or plastic, when the only choice should be, neither.
QUOTE OF THE DAY “I don’t think there is anything I could say, be it strident or be it humble or be it eloquent, or be it any combination of the above, that would change the artithmetic.” University President Richard L. McCormick on Gov. Chris Christie’s decision to cut state funding to the University STORY ON FRONT
MCT CAMPUS
Voting ‘yes’ provides opportunities
T
oday I am going to University population. That tell you a little is the mentality in both our about myself, the business of fice in the Daily Targum and the Rutgers Student Center on Targum Referendum that the College Avenue campus today is kicking off its first and the of fice on Mine day of polling. I was origiStreet, to be the best colnally a Cook College chemlege paper we can be. NEIL P. KYPERS istr y major coming out of a This brings me to my small Nor th Jersey town talking point — the called Pompton Plains. I came to the University Referendum. Referendum is a mandator y vote because it is affordable and close enough where I put before the student body ever y three years. can still do my laundr y at home, but my parents The University Senate guidelines state that the do not feel like coming to visit me. Now I am a undergraduate student body of the University School of Arts and Sciences political science must approve of all special student organization major living off-campus in a nice two-family home. funding. Students vote to approve the fee on I am having the ultimate college experience. their term bill that funds Targum. Additionally, I went from a residence hall to an on-campus the fee is fully refundable. This fee is what apartment to off-campus apartment and with all allows the Targum to remain daily, independent those moves came a better respect for college and full of content free from the sway of outside life. This is not an easy place to be when you are groups, and without it the Targum risks a responsible for all aspects of your life. Now factor decrease in publication and quality. It allows us in that I am the editor-in-chief of the Targum and to stay student-written and student-managed of life has become increasingly busy. It all began dedicated students who are gaining knowledge, when I opened up the Targum one experience and training in a way day and saw an ad for the position. that no classroom can give. This is “I implore all I talked to my friend who, at the available to all the students at the time, was an associate news editor. students out there University, and we always need He suggested I apply, so here I am people interested in working with to come to our today representing one of the oldus. The Targum is like another est collegiate newspapers in the class — a ver y demanding class — office at 26 Mine St. countr y and proud to do it. but one that puts you into the field The Targum has been in exis... and meet us all.” and puts you in charge. And from tence since 1869. We have been this, we hope to benefit an entire independent of the University since community, providing the 1980, as it should be. The paper is a teaching instiUniversity with a newspaper, one run by stutution set up for students, whether journalism is dents and one students can be proud of. The your major or not. I think if anyone out there has Targum leads the nation in four-year daily colany doubts about their ability to get involved with lege publications, winning first place in the catethe Targum you should come in and talk to one of gor y at Februar y’s Associate Collegiate Press our editors, I know firsthand. Opportunities are convention in Phoenix. Additionally a number of offered to anyone willing to work hard and dediour writers and photographers are also awardcate him or herself to the paper. It is something winning. New Jersey Sports Writers Association you should be doing if your goal is to work for a gave the first and second place award for college publication, newspaper, magazine or tabloid. Your sports writers in the state to two people from our college paper is the best and most available way sports section. to gain experience and build a resume and portfoTherefore, if you are an undergraduate stulio. That is not mere suggestion, that is fact — dent at the University with less than 105 credits most professionals will tell you that if you do not (in other words, all undergraduates) get out to work for your college publication you will have a the polls on your campus March 22 to April 12 ver y difficult time working for any publication. I and vote yes in the Referendum. implore all students out there to come to our The Targum hopes to be a paper that is more office at 26 Mine St. between the hours of 5 and than a distraction from a boring class. It is the 7 p.m. and meet us all. source for information in the University and city. You will find in our office the most dedicated It is an opportunity for anyone who steps up and and understaffed group of students who strive to SEE KYPERS ON PAGE 9 meet the standards of the large and critical
Frontlines
Due to space limitations, submissions cannot exceed 750 words. If a commentary exceeds 750 words, it will not be considered for publication. All authors must include name, phone number, class year and college affiliation or department to be considered for publication. Anonymous letters will not be considered. All submissions are subject to editing for length and clarity. A submission does not guarantee publication. Please submit via e-mail to oped@dailytargum.com by 4 p.m. to be considered for the following day’s publication. The editorials written above represent the majority opinion of The Daily Targum Editorial Board. All other opinions expressed on the Opinions page, and those held by advertisers, columnists and cartoonists, are not necessarily those of The Daily Targum.
OPINIONS
T H E DA I LY TA R G U M
MARCH 22, 2010 9
Competitive attitude not always definitive
A
handful of Scarlet Knights may have never enjoyed a ride on the REXL bus, never eaten a fat sandwich from the Grease Trucks or never attended a football game. Yet, as University students, we have all shared at least one common experience: Having suffered and survived the stress of applying to this University. Once accepted, some probably sought refuge from these application stressors in the least scholarly of collegiate pastimes. Spring Break and St. Patrick’s Day shenanigans might have succeeded as the antidote to mounting pressures — dulling the gruesome memories of after-school activities, SAT preparation classes and numbing the pain of upcoming applications. Unfortunately, many of us are still haunted by the agonizing months of lectures from nagging parents and the endless lists of advice from harried guidance counselors we faced back in high school. The college application process is not for the weak-hearted and, with each academic year, the competition and, therefore, the expectations grow. People say that the essays were painful, and the waiting was torturous. But most harrowing was the desperate attempt to differentiate oneself from one’s peers, only to feel as if it was impossible to keep up, let alone outshine them. If it was not difficult enough to stand out scholastically in your activities and in an essay, some schools now encourage students to set themselves apart through more creative means. Tufts University has introduced an optional YouTube submission as part of their undergraduate applications, allowing students to showcase their talents, media skills and innovation. Tufts has stated that a poorly constructed video submission cannot hurt one’s chances of being accepted, nor will
an impressive shadowed by city video stand in for private preschools. low grades. My mother However, Tufts’ recalls that the Dean of the School only criterion for of Arts and being accepted Sciences Robert J. into preschool Sternberg conwhen I was LARISSA KLEIN tends that the enrolled was havvideos help “assess ing crossed the applicants’ creativity, wisdom and practical milestone of potty training. I did not need skills …[and] applicants who are strong in to be a numbers wizard, a reading prodigy those areas tend to have higher freshman or show any artistic promise. Yet, today, [grade point averages] and participate in private preschools with entrance exams more extracurricular, leadership and citi- have gotten parents feeling as if toddlers zenship activities in college.” So, it is quite need to diversify their skills and overshadlikely that future applicants will feel the ow their peers from day one. pressure to top current Tufts YouTube senThe New York Times explored the sations, like the girl who expanding role of for-hire created a dance sequence occupational therapists in “... some schools inspired by math terms, this race to breed superior whether it is optional or not. children in “Watch How You now encourage Well, maybe you are still Hold That Crayon.” A posistudents to set recuperating from the tion, which was traditionally ordeal of getting into the designed to aid disabled themselves apart University, but, sooner or children in developing their later, you will again set out motor skills, is now being through more to distinguish yourself for used to speed up naturally creative means.” graduate school, law acquired processes in perschool, medical school or fectly capable kids. Within the job market. It is a trend New York City upper crust that will follow us the rest of our lives. And, families, occupational therapists are unfortunately, there is nothing that can kill becoming a staple in childhood education the high of Spring Break like remembering rather than a last resort. these challenges you have ahead of you. At least parents and teachers used to I cannot say I am happy to be repeating pretend that we simply had to try our the miserable pattern of building a skill set, hardest and show some effort to gain a network and a persona to be evaluated; recognition. Now, the focus is squarely on however, I am incredibly thankful that I being better than the other guy. Of course, was spared the process, as well as the anx- nothing is more representative of this iety and feelings of inadequacy associated drive to surpass one’s peers than forcing with it, for the first 18 years of my life. Tufts early childhood development to happen may be increasing the pressure it places on ahead of schedule. college applicants, but the intensity of their The mentality that we all need a résumé application procedure is slowly being over- packed with clubs, awards and internships
Definition of Insanity
Blame Congress for partisanship Letter EHUD COHEN
I
n the past few weeks I have noticed a steady flow of letters and comments, with left and right bashing over health care and taxes, but few actual ideas or proposals. This changed when I read the column, “President abandons promise,” when he stated at the end that to fix our government we should vote every single member out and start over. But while this is indeed a tempting plan, the leadup to this plan involved bashing President Barack Obama’s work and not the work — or lack thereof — of our congressmen and congresswomen. For example, after showing evidence of the American people’s distrust in the proposed health care bill, the author writes, “Obama has said he is okay with being a one-term president, as long as he helped people. It almost sounds like he expects people not to be very happy with him.” Makes sense to me. Wouldn’t one prefer to be a one-term president who attempts to enact reform, helping millions of Americans, rather than a twoterm one who sent us to an unnecessary war, drove up the national debt by slashing tax for the wealthy and brought us to our current economic state? Recently, Obama said in a speech about health reform, “My proposal would give uninsured individuals and small business owners the same kind of choice of private health insurance that members of Congress get for themselves, because if it’s good enough for members of Congress, it’s good enough for the people who pay their
salaries.” Hear hear. Imagine the opposite, giving Congress the same health coverage the average American gets. Now that’s a plan. Once they see how broken it is first hand, maybe they will sit down, work together and fix it. But after a year of apparent “jamming the bill down our throats” as the news and opinion outlets have called it, only recently did such a sit-down occur. At the health care reform summit, I watched one side reach out and the other pull away. When Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., said, “We’re not really that far apart,” and Rep. Rob Andrews, D-N.J., said, “If we can resolve this [difference], I think we can agree,” I looked forward to an engaged
“... I say blame your congressmen and congresswomen.” discussion. But I winced when Republicans across the table repeatedly stated the need to start over, ignoring the option to discuss, collaborate and exchange ideas. The worst of it is that people think this sit-down was such a special event. Comedian John Oliver put it best when he suggested that Congress “could agree to gather in a building regularly to share ideas about how to run the country.” Sounds eerily familiar to what should be happening daily. The columnist also called the process of reconciliation a shady tactic. I think Sen. Judd Gregg, RN.H., would agree with this, having recently said, “It’s a bad policy.” But the very same Gregg said on the floor in March 2005,
“Reconciliation is a rule of the Senate. All this rule does is allow a majority of the Senate to … pass a piece of legislation. Now is there something wrong with majority rules? I don’t think so.” To which I would agree. When last I checked, a majority was 51 out of 100, not 60. I was even considering calling my fifth grade teacher to have a word with her. Then I hear that since 1980, 17 of 23 reconciliation bills were signed into law by Republican presidents alone. This would explain why Obama recently asked Congress to vote, saying, “[The health bill] deserves the same kind of up-or-down vote that was cast on welfare reform, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, Cobra health coverage for the unemployed, and both Bush tax cuts.” Obama promised to tr y to reach across the aisle and work together, but lately all I have been seeing is an opposing side whose intention is solely to get what they want or not work together at all. People look to blame Obama for the lack of bipartisanship, I say blame your congressmen and congresswomen. Because if we have to deal with people like Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., who objected nine times to a 30-day extension of unemployment benefits for more than one million people during one of the worst recessions in history, and who noted, with a laugh, that he was missing the Kentucky-South Carolina game that started at 9 p.m., then I do not think it matters who our president is. Oh and Mr. Bunning, I would think you can afford a TiVo. Ehud Cohen is a School of Engineering sophomore.
just to secure an above-minimum-wage job — or that we need to demonstrate advanced motor skills just to snag a spot in a mommy-and-me class — is slowly forcing everyone to feel inadequate. Certainly, having a competitive attitude has done positive things for society. But, perhaps this intense pressure to be the best is simply setting most of us up for failure. With successes, rather than gaining confidence in yourself and your abilities, you are left wondering: Could I have achieved this without professional coaching? Would I have gotten this job without having padded my credentials? Did I simply cajole, rather than genuinely impress, my interviewer? Working so hard to outperform others, we lose that sense of having given a task all we have got — always feeling as if we need to push ourselves to do more. And as the process of applying to schools and jobs becomes more aggressive, even shining applicants fear they may be unqualified. When those with top-tier skills, experience and very little competition push themselves harder than necessar y, they, undoubtedly, give the rest of us a run for our money. Those crazed parents may not recognize it, but it is not a race to be the first kid in your class to master penmanship. And Tufts may not agree, but adding an application component that is accessible for the world to see, may simply hoist already soaring levels of competition to a traumatic point. Contrar y to popular opinion, we might all benefit from being given that long-lost “‘A’ for effort” ever y once in awhile. Larissa Klein is a School of Arts and Sciences junior majoring in English and art history. Her column “Definition of Insanity” runs on alternate Mondays.
Nuclear energy necessary for progress Letter DONALD MOSKOWITZ
O
il is a diminishing and expensive source of energy, and coal is dirty. Alternative energy sources, including solar and wind power, can only provide 10 to 20 percent of our energy requirements. President Barack Obama has increased government loan guaranties for new nuclear power plants from $18.5 to $54.5 billion, which should give impetus to the nuclear power industry. There are 20 nuclear plants undergoing decommissioning, and we could construct new 2,000 megawatt units at these sites for a reduced investment by using the existing infrastructure. Nuclear plants have provided clean, cheap and safe power from 104 units. The only accident was at Three Mile Island, where almost all of the radiation was contained in the containment building. Subsequently,
KYPERS continued from page 8 seizes it. It is an independent publication committed to unbiased reporting and informing the community on issues and events that affect and matter to you. No matter who you are or how you feel about the Targum you cannot deny that voting yes for an optional fee that will keep an institution in place with such clear purpose should be difficult. So I end asking
the Nuclear Regulator y Commission made changes in how it regulates nuclear power plants, and this has significantly reduced any risk to public safety. We have to address the problem of leaking radioactive wastewater from underground pipes. The solution might be using higher quality pipes or moving the pipes above ground where they can be easily monitored. Another problem is the disposal of nuclear waste, which has been collecting on plant sites. The solution is to neutralize and recycle the waste. France has perfected a process to recycle nuclear waste, and it is able to generate 80 percent of its energy requirements from nuclear power. We need more nuclear power plants to counter the effects of global warming, eliminate foreign oil purchases and reduce the use of fossil fuels. Donald Moskowitz is a resident of Londonderry, N.H. that today, as you walk to class, to the dining hall, or to the gym, do not walk past the people telling you to go vote, do not avert your gaze or avoid the polling places. Instead, please take a minute before class, after class or even during class because you are bored, and vote in the Referendum. And vote YES! Neil P. Kypers is editor-in-chief of The Daily Targum. He is a School of Arts and Sciences junior majoring in political science with a minor in philosophy.
T H E D A I LY TA R G U M
DIVERSIONS
PA G E 1 2
Horoscopes / LINDA C. BLACK
Pearls Before Swine
MARCH 22, 2010
STEPHAN PASTIS
Today's birthday (3/22/10). The cosmos provide the challenge of intense work this year. To make the most of your opportunities, keep your purpose in mind with the help of a note on your mirror or a mantra on your tongue. Observe carefully before you criticize. Dream as big as you dare! To get the advantage, check the day's rating: 10 is the easiest day, 0 the most challenging. Aries (March 21-April 19) — Today is a 7 — A female livens up the work environment with rude jokes about people in power. Try not to fall off your chair laughing. Remember the punch line for later. Taurus (April 20-May 20) — Today is a 7 — The taskmaster is back! Never let it be said that you can't get the work done. Let co-workers fend for themselves. Gemini (May 21-June 21) — Today is a 6 — Today you understand what someone's been trying to tell you for the last few days. Sometimes distance allows you to perceive the level of caring. Cancer (June 22-July 22) — Today is a 6 — Words truly matter today. What you say now could come back to haunt you. Stick to practical concerns if possible. Leo (July 23-Aug. 22) — Today is a 6 — You might take up a new area of study now. Someone needs to do the research, and it might as well be you. Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) — Today is a 6 — Set the bar high where communication is concerned. Clarity is essential. Add persuasive language to clinch the deal.
Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) — Today is a 7 — Who said hard work can't be fun? If you have someone to share the task, you can enjoy the sore muscles. Add good music, and a tea party later. Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) — Today is a 6 — Ease into work. You don't need to hit the ground running. Take a moment to review and choose the best strategy. Caution wins over impulsiveness. Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) — Today is a 5 — Try to get off the hot seat today. You've taken enough punishment. Use your talents to escape, or wave a magic wand and disappear. Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) — Today is a 6 — It's Monday. Embrace your work, pay attention and save the dreamy mood for later. Persuade yourself that you're in the right place. Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) — Today is an 8 — Personal energy feeds on basic logic. What you see, in many ways, is what you get. No frills are necessary just now. Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — Today is an 8 — Dip into cash reserves for a creative purchase. Be sure you've shopped for a bargain, but also demand quality. It's an investment.
Dilbert
Doonesberry
Happy Hour
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MARCH 22, 2010
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WILEY
Jumble
H. ARNOLD & M. ARGIRION THAT SCRAMBLED WORD GAME
Unscramble these four Jumbles, one letter to each square, to form four ordinary words.
Peanuts
YAHND
CHARLES SCHULTZ
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YELLGA Now arrange the circled letters to form the surprise answer, as suggested by the above cartoon.
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Solution, tips and computer program at www.sudoku.com
“
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OF IT
(Answers tomorrow) Jumbles: HOBBY DRAWL JUNKET FELONY Answer: The astronaut was successful when he was — “DOWN AND OUT”
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S P O RT S
T H E DA I LY TA R G U M
MEETING: Hill targets next season for Tourney berth continued from back
T
he Rutgers baseball team had a successful Spring Break, winning six of its eight contests in Florida and Virginia. The Knights swept Florida International by a combined score of 46-30 and took two-ofthree from both Florida Atlantic and Old Dominion. For full coverage, see tomorrow’s edition.
THE
RUTGERS
MEN ’ S
lacrosse team kicked off its Spring Break with victories over Penn State and Marist, but fell to Army Saturday at West Point. The Scarlet Knights braved the weather against the Nittany Lions in a 7-4 win and outlasted Marist by a score of 10-9. The Black Knights got the better of RU in an 11-8 decision. For full coverage, see tomorrow’s edition.
THE RUTGERS
WOMEN’S
lacrosse dropped its first two road games during Spring Break, but got off the schnide with an 11-8 victory in Colorado against Denver. The first loss came against Hofstra, when the Pride narrowly claimed a 10-9 victory in double overtime. Loyola dominated the scorecard in Baltimore, beating RU 18-6. For full coverage, see tomorrow’s edition.
THE
RUTGERS
TENNIS
team won two of its three Spring Break matches, topping Towson State and No. 24 Nova Southeastern but falling to No. 5 Barr y. The Knights played all of the matches in Miami, and opened the three-game trip with a 7-0 victory over Towson State. They fell to Barry 6-3, but rebounded to top Nova Southeastern by a 5-2 score. For full coverage, see tomorrow’s edition.
THE RUTGERS
MEN’S AND
women’s track and field teams opened their spring seasons at the USF Bulls Invitational in Tampa and combined for five individual titles. Both of the men’s victories came in the field, with sophomore Adam Bergo winning the high jump and classmate James Plummer taking home the discus title. For the women, junior Nwamaka Okobi won the triple jump, senior Michelle Gomes finished first in the 200-meter dash and senior Jessica Bandy and sophomore Alex Kelly combined for a one-two finish in the javelin. For full coverage, see tomorrow’s edition.
The 15 wins were the most in Hill’s four years, but during his tenure Rutgers is just 47-77 overall and 13-57 in the Big East. “There was no sense of urgencies on my par t for anything except to move this program for ward,” Hill said. “I look for ward to meetings like the one we had today. I thought we had a great meeting and I’m really excited about the guys in the program and what they can do. I’m excited that we can really star t
to see a vision, a dream and a “One of the big things is the goal that I had coming here is facilities and the renovation of the star ting to take suit.” RAC, and the addition of a practice Hill did not go facility,” Hill said. into many specifics have great “I’m excited that we “We when asked about support in this what needs to be can ... start to see administration — done to improve for them to go out a vision, a dream the program and be able to but he did single raise the money to and a goal that out an upgrade move this forto facilities. I had ... is starting ward; this is a very Pernetti has exciting time.” to take suit.” already stated As he’s always plans for a renovadone, Hill refused FRED HILL JR. tion to the 31-yearto quantify sucHead Coach old Louis Brown cess as a number Athletic Center and said it won’t that would include a new practice be judged on whether he makes court, scoreboard, playing floor the NCAA tournament in year and locker rooms. five. But he did reveal that a .500
MARCH 22, 2010
15
Big East season is a realistic goal for this team. Ever ybody on the roster except senior center Hamady N’Diaye is expected to return. “This is the type of team, and I’ve never mentioned it before because I didn’t think it was a realistic goal in my first four years here, to talk about where we want to take the program. But this is a team I feel very confident about that can be a .500 team in the Big East,” Hill said. “I think if you’re a .500 team in the Big East and finish in the top-eight in the conference with that record, then you are an NCAA tournament team. “That’s where I’m looking to head and I love the guys coming back. I think that’s a very realistic goal for us and this program.”
S P O RT S
T H E DA I LY TA R G U M
MARCH 22, 2010
17
NCAA experience invaluable for young squad BY STEVEN WILLIAMSON SENIOR WRITER
STANFORD, Calif. — All the Rutgers women’s basketball team was playing for against Iowa was WOMEN’S BASKETBALL another 40 minutes. An additional 2,400 seconds of game time, another chance to step out on the hardwood. The prospect of not having to go home after only one game, the chance for more experience. That wish was not granted. Now, with three seniors graduating, the Scarlet Knights have six returning players for next year. The only question that remains for them is what will they take out of Saturday’s loss? “I think we’ve got a whole lot more to do,” said head coach C. Vivian Stringer. “How good can we be? I don’t know, I couldn’t have told you what we were going to do coming in here. “So much of winning has to do with the mental mindset. You can have all the skill in the world but if your mind’s not tough or if your mind doesn’t think like it should then what difference does it make? The jury’s still out.” At the least, it was an atypical postseason experience for the Knights. Coming into the season, RU made an appearance in the Sweet 16 for five straight years. This season, the Hawkeyes ousted the Knights before they even got their foot in the door. Though RU put up a valiant effort and one of its more complete games of the season, it still came up short. Iowa’s deluge of three-pointers in the second half was simply too much to overcome. Now, with the departure of RU’s only three upperclassmen, all eyes are on the returning six. To some, the lack of a senior presence next season could be seen as a negative. Sophomore forward Chelsey Lee views it as an opportunity. “What I think is great about the returning class is we don’t
have the seniors,” Lee said. “So if we don’t know each other by now we’ll have a bunch of time over the summer and two more years of playing together and hopefully we can make it all the way to the big game.” Though their tournament life only lasted one game, Stringer said she was determined to make sure that all six of the Knights’ returning players got a taste of an NCAA Tournament game. In last season’s tournament, Stringer kept her freshmen on the bench out of the desire to “sur vive,” she said. But Lee, sophomore guard Nikki Speed and classmates April Sykes and Khadijah Rushdan all saw crucial minutes against the Hawkeyes. Freshmen Monique Oliver and Erica Wheeler made appearances of their own down the stretch. “I will say that all of them got really valuable experience,” Stringer said. “I was quick to make substitutions to get ever ybody a taste, assuming that ever ybody was going to get in and make a difference in the game.” An area of concern coming into Saturday’s contest was which Knights team would show up. Would it be the RU squad that fired on all cylinders against Louisville, or upset Georgetown in two overtimes? Or would it be the team that looked listless and lost in a blowout loss at home against Syracuse? Though the Knights held their own against Iowa, the pattern of inconsistency is something that the returning squad knows they must address. “We waited too late to find our intensity and to know the type of team that we are,” Lee said. “We have to learn who we are and identify. ‘We’re the Scarlet Knights, we’re a running team. We’re the Scarlet Knights, we’re a defensive team. We’re the Scarlet Knights, we’re a pressing team.’” After the game, an emotional Speed admitted that the rollercoaster quality of the season was one of its biggest detriments.
ANDREW HOWARD/ SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER/ FILE PHOTO
Freshman center Monique Oliver (44) scored four points and added two rebounds against Iowa as head coach C. Vivian Stringer made an effort to give all her players NCAA Tournament experience.
“We can’t have that,” the guard said. “That hurts us. Roller coasters hurt us.” Four years ago, RU’s departing trio of seniors were ushered into the sport’s biggest stage on the backs of their upperclassmen but were never able to return. And while the team fell short this year, there is always something to be learned. Starting next
KNIGHTS: Defensive pressure fails to create points continued from back
ANDREW HOWARD/ SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER/ FILE PHOTO
Senior guard Brittany Ray finished her Scarlet Knights career with a 15-point performance in the first-round, NCAA Tournament loss.
there were a lot of times where we’d get the steal and couldn’t convert,” said senior forward Myia McCurdy. “What we need to do off the 55 is to convert off of every play — that would have helped us.” All five Hawkeye starters scored in double figures. Rutgers (19-15) opened the game 2-of-10 from the floor before settling into an offensive flow. The Hawkeyes, meanwhile, turned to the inside-out combo of center Morgan Johnson and guard Jaime Printy for the bulk of their scoring. Johnson scored six straight points on the Hawkeye’s 6-0 run midway through the first period, while Printy went 2-of-3 from the three-point line. The duo entered halftime with eight points each, ahead 28-21. The final blow to RU’s up-anddown season, the game is not one that Stringer’s players will soon forget — all for the better, she said. “I hope that we do remember [this game],” Stringer said. “I hope that it does hurt, I hope that it stings and I hope that we remember why this happened — paying attention to small things, because small things do matter.”
season, the Knights’ destiny lies in the hands of its four juniors — what they make of this year remains to be seen. But despite the disappointment of the year, Stringer sees the underlying potential. “[The seniors] came into a situation, those juniors took them to play in a national championship and that was an incredible ride,”
Stringer said. “Unfortunately we as a team were not strong enough this year — the seniors as well as the heralded, if you will, freshmen and sophomores — to sustain the real kind of pressure and expectations that were upon us. “So we struggled quite a bit, but I do believe that ultimately, before they leave, they will enjoy that kind of success.”
18
S P O RT S
MARCH 22, 2010
T H E DA I LY TA R G U M
Coach firings and early exits shake up Big East BY SAM HELLMAN CORRESPONDENT
Maybe the Big East’s overconfidence MEN’S BASKETBALL was its w e a k ness or POSTSEASON REPORT perhaps its faith in its friends. Whatever the cause, the conference that put eight teams in the NCAA Tournament and another five in the National Invitational Tournament, set itself back decades with embarrassing performances on and off the court since the conclusion of the conference tournament. In the 12 days since Country Roads blared in West Virginia’s victor y at Madison Square Garden, nine of the conference’s 13 teams in the postseason lost in the first two rounds and two coaches made headlines as their schools fired them.
BIG EAST
SETON HALL
GAVE
taping and robbing eight people at gunpoint.
ST. JOHN’S
ALSO FIRED ITS
coach, Norm Roberts, after a first round NIT loss to Memphis. The Tigers won, 73-71, at home on a buzzer-beater.
THE FIRST WEEKEND OF THE NCAA Tournament is where the brunt of the embarrassment came to fruition. Second seeded Villanova, after barely surviving against No. 15 Robert Morris in the first round, crumpled against No. 10 St. Mary’s Saturday in the second round. President Barack Obama’s Final Four pick from the South bracket allowed St. Mary’s center Omar Samhan to score 32 points in a 75-68 victory. All-American guard Scottie Reynolds’ career with the Wildcats came to an end as the Herndon, Va., native shot a combined 4-for-26 in the two games.
BOBBY
Gonzalez the boot after a brutal home loss to Texas Tech in the first round of the National Invitational Tournament. Gonzalez’ off the floor antics combined with zero postseason success proved to be his downfall. For ward Herb Pope, ejected in the first half, punched a Texas Tech player below the belt twice in the 87-69 loss at the Prudential Center. Robert “Stix” Mitchell, kicked off the team before the game by Gonzalez, also made headlines after police arrested him for duct-
POPULAR
ELITE
EIGHT
pick Georgetown, a three-seed and runner-up for the Big East crown, put up an insufficient effort against 14th-seeded Ohio and become the first three-seed to lose in the first round in three years. The Hoyas fell, 97-83, allowing the most points ever in the school’s NCAA Tournament history. After the loss, center Greg Monroe told the media he planned to return to Georgetown next season rather than declare for the NBA Draft.
NO. 6
SEEDS
MARQUETTE
and Notre Dame suffered similar fates as both started slowly and lost tight contests to 11 seeds. For the Fighting Irish, star center Luke Harangody had no impact in his final game, scoring a measly four points in the 51-50 loss to Old Dominion. Marquette made the Pac-10 look impressive by falling 80-78 to Washington. Four starters scored at least 13 points for the Golden Eagles behind 63 percent shooting beyond the arc, but it was not enough.
SYRACUSE
AND
WEST
Virginia helped the conference save face, cruising to the Sweet 16 as respective one and two seeds. The Orange cruised past 16seed Vermont and eight-seed Gonzaga in the first two rounds, winning by a combined 45 points in the contests. Similarly, the Mountaineers handled their opponents, 15-seed Morgan State and 10-seed Missouri, and advance to face 11th-seeded Washington. Three-seed Pittsburgh narrowly missed out on the round of 16, after missing two last-second three-pointers in a 71-68 loss to sixth-seed Xavier.
CONNECTICUT
AND
Cincinnati both remain alive in the NIT after South Florida lost 58-57 to North Carolina State in the first round. Both play tonight with the Huskies facing No.1 seed Virginia Tech and Cincinnati facing No. 3 seed Dayton.
Season-high score sends off seniors BY JOSH GLATT STAFF WRITER
For most students, Spring Break is a carefree time. Going to a warm location is the sole focus. For the Rutgers GYMNASTICS gymnasRUTGERS 192.675 t i c s TOWSON 193.400 t e a m , relaxation was not possible, but it was a rewarding break nonetheless. During the week off, the Scarlet Knights participated in two meets, winning one of them. RU hosted Towson and Yale on March 13 in the final home meet of
the season. The Knights did not allow the pressure of giving seniors Alyssa Lewandowski, Prishani Seebadri and Laura Sevarino a good sendoff impact their performance negatively. The entire team rose to the occasion, scoring a 192.675 — its highest score since 2005. “It was senior night and all the girls wanted to do a great job for the seniors,” head coach Chrystal Chollet-Norton said. “I was really nice for the seniors. We had a very good crowd.” Despite experiencing the emotion of competing in the Livingston Recreation Center for the last time, the three seniors all managed to
JOVELLE TAMAYO/ PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
Senior Laura Sevarino capped her home career with the Knights by earning a season-high 9.775 on the beam against Townson and Yale.
have performances to remember. Sevarino posted a season high of 9.775 on beam and tied her career high of 9.750 on bars en route to a team-leading all around score of 38.575. Seebadri tied a season high score of 9.750 in vault. Lewandowski continued the trend of setting personal bests with a career-high 9.800 in floor exercises. “I was really happy that the seniors finished their careers at home on a high note,” CholletNorton said. The Knights traveled South on March 20 to compete against North Carolina. In a meet that was largely out of reach, RU fell 196.225-187.200. Leading up to the meet, the Knights faced flooding in their gym’s foam pit that the team was tasked with cleaning, a broken toilet on the bus, lost cell phones and purses, and nausea on the long bus ride to Chapel Hill, N.C. “We just got to a point where we had to laugh,” Chollet-Norton said. “We already made Nationals and we just had to move on.” On top of all that, the Knights were also without freshman Jenna Zito, one of the team’s most consistent performers. After competing in all around in every meet and establishing herself as one of the team’s top performers, Chollet-Norton gave Zito the meet off. She suffered from an ankle injury in practice and CholletNorton wanted to play it safe. Despite the loss, there were several bright spots for RU. Freshman Emma-Rose Trentacosti scored a career-high 9.700 in vault to lead the team. After setting her seasonhigh in beam in her previous meet with a 9.775, Sevarino tied that score to finish second overall. The team returns to action on March 27 at the East Atlantic Gymnastics League Championships.
JEN KONG
Officials ejected Seton Hall forward Herb Pope (15) from the Pirates’ opening-round NIT loss after he punched a player below the belt.
ENDING: Four-of-seven grapplers reach second day continued from back “I just wrestled stupid [against Williamson],” Russo said. “After that I got on kind of a roll but then they took a break after my second match on Friday, which threw me off. You don’t want to take a break when you have momentum.” Of the six other Knights that competed in the tournament, two grapplers — Dan Rinaldi and Joe Langel — took part in their first NCAA championship and neither disappointed. In the 174-pound bracket, Rinaldi advanced to the second day after winning his opening match but falling to eventual champion Jay Borschel of Iowa, knocking him into the consolation bracket. In the second day of competition, Rinaldi dropped a hardfought 5-4 decision to fifth-seeded Scott Glaser of Minnesota. “It was definitely a great experience,” Rinaldi said. “I used to go to tournaments to watch my brother wrestle but I can’t put into words how different it is being out on the mat in that atmosphere.” Langel, wrestling in the 125pound bracket, got off on the right foot in his first tournament by upsetting 10th-seeded Christopher Ntee with an impressive 11-5 score. The redshirt freshman dropped his next bout, moving him to the consolation bracket and on to the second day where Ross Gitomer of Virginia eliminated him. “I think [the freshmen] did a great job,” Russo said. “They got experience and that is the most important thing to take away from the national tournament. You see guys who have big years in the regular season but then
malfunction mentally at the tournament and they defeat themselves. Experience is something you can’t have enough of.” Junior Billy Ashnault also advanced to the second day of competition after a rough end to his regular season. After not placing at the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association conference tournament one-week prior, Ashnault was given an at-large bid to compete in the national tournament. The Lock Haven transfer made the most of his opportunity, going 2-2 in Omaha highlighted by his opening round technical fall over Joe Pantaleo of Liberty. “We always stress that you want to wrestle your best in March, and for [Ashnault], it was late March,” Goodale said. “He was only a few wins away from doing something special. He was in a great mindset, and once you get to that level, anything can happen.” Junior Daryl Cocozzo, senior Lamar Brown and sophomore Trevor Melde did not make it to the second day, dropping the first two matches in their respective brackets on the first day of competition. Top-ranked Iowa won its third-straight team title with 134.5 points. Fellow EIWA squad Cornell came in second with 90 points. The Knights finished in 32nd place with 18 points. The Knights’ quest for an AllAmerican leads them to the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, the site of next years’ NCAA Championships. “I can’t wait,” Rinaldi said. “I already have a lot of friends and family telling me that they want to come out to the tournament and watch me wrestle. It’s going to be incredible being so close to Rutgers. Hopefully I’ll be able to make it and wrestle hard for ever yone.”
S PORTS
T H E DA I LY TA R G U M
MARCH 22, 2010
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Strong finish caps Saunders’ career BY KEVIN O’ROURKE STAFF WRITER
Heading into her fourth and final Zone A Diving Championship, senior co-captain of the Rutgers swimming DIVING and diving team Erin Saunders felt she was peaking at the right time. Judging by last weekend’s results, she was correct. Saunders racked up 550.20 points to post a career-best sixth place finish in the three-meter dive and matched her 2007 showing in the one-meter, placing fifth with 528.60 points. “It was good to see the improvement there,” said Saunders. “Every other year I went into Zones and I was tired or I was hurt and this year it was just really exciting. I wasn’t tired, I wasn’t sore, there was nothing keeping me from doing well so I just let myself go and it was great.” Amanda Burke of Rider tallied 672.30 points to take top honors on the three-meter board and narrowly missed out on adding the one-meter title to her résumé, finishing seven points behind Meili Carpenter of Buffalo. The two
headlined a strong field that expanded to include divers from competing institutions in Maryland and Virginia for the first time. Despite the depth of the field, Saunders made a strong bid to qualify for the NCAA Championships. Needing to place sixth or better to earn an invite to the Championships, she finished 10th out of 43 divers. “She dove tough,” Rutgers diving coach Fred Woodruff said of Saunders. “She made some errors, but that’s life. She had a good last meet and I was happy she could put together a nice weekend. She competed very well. Unfortunately, she kind of fell a little bit short of getting to Purdue, [host of the NCAAs,] but she had some great competition too. “ Competing on her home boards in her final college event made the experience all the more enjoyable for Saunders. Teammates, family and friends were all in attendance at the Rutgers Aquatics Center to root on the Holmes, Pa., native. “I wasn’t stressed out about it,” Saunders said of diving in front of her home crowd. “After I dove
prelims, in both events, I just had this calmness come over me and it was cool because it was the finals and that’s when I dove my best.” Saunders was also able to block out the distraction that goes with the realization of the end of her Knights career — even if it has yet to fully register. “During the meet, it started to hit me a little bit and I think that’s when I relaxed and kind of got that calm feeling,” she said. “Immediately afterwards, I was upset but I don’t think it will fully hit me until next week when the other girls are going back to practice and I don’t have to.” Junior Jen Betz and freshman Katie Kearney return to lead the Knights’ divers next season, but Woodruff made no bones about it — Saunders will be missed. “I’m going to miss her like crazy,” said Woodruff. “She’s a great person. Regardless of the diving, she’s really a pleasure to coach, to go to practice every day and have her there and just to talk about things that have nothing to do with diving. She was definitely dedicated. She led by example as well as in word. She’s really a hard person to replace.”
NICHOLAS BRASOWSKI
Senior Nicole Lindley threw a complete game and recorded eight strikeouts in the first half of a double-header sweep of Missouri State.
Winning Spring Break keys fresh start for RU BY SAM HELLMAN CORRESPONDENT
Since an abysmal start in which the Rutgers softball team lost five SOFTBALL straight RUTGERS 5 games a MISSOURI STATE 1 by t o t a l score of 50-1, a new squad emerged. The Scarlet Knights never quite pulled the title belt down from the top of the ladder in tournament play, but they went from out cold on the mat to climbing the ladder in the final three tournaments of the season. RU won its first game in the second week of the tournament season and 6-out-of-10 in the final two tournaments. Take away an uncharacteristic 0-5 start, and the Knights are 9-9 and heating up with the weather. “We’ve come a long way from our first game and that was kind of what I had in mind,” said head coach Jay Nelson. “I wanted the team to see where they had to get and they’re starting to do that.” The last time out, the Knights swept a double-header against Missouri State behind the tag team of ace hurlers Nicole Lindley and Holly Johnson. Lindley, the team’s lone senior, beat up the Bears in a 5-1 victory — striking out eight batters in a complete game, though she allowed 10 base runners. A big home run by junior first baseman Mandy Craig and three RBI provided the offensive spark in the victory. The second game of the double-header made for the Knights’ most convincing win of the season. Without a home run, RU put 12 runs on the board to just one for Missouri State. The first four spots in the batting order com-
bined to go 6-for-17 with five RBI and junior left fielder Mickenzie Alden had three hits, two RBI and three runs out of the ninth slot in the order. “We just improved,” Nelson said. “We keep getting better every game. We’re hitting pretty well and our pitchers are improving. They’re starting to control games.” Johnson never let the Bears come close, holding them without an earned run and striking out seven in her second complete game victory of the season. “Defensively we made some really good plays. We only had one error in the double-header and it didn’t hurt us. Mickenzie also had a great over-the-shoulder grab at the fence to save some runs.” Prior to the double-header sweep of Missouri State, the Knights fell 6-3 to Wichita State and placed as the runner-up in a tournament in Stillwater, Okla. In the loss to Wichita State, catcher Kylee Bishop drove in two runs out of the clean-up spot, but the combination of all four RU pitchers gave up three earned runs and three unearned in the loss. In the tournament, the Knights qualified for the finals through an 8-5 victor y over Wisconsin in the semifinals, but lost to host Oklahoma State in the championship game. “We started off slowly but we improved and we got into the championship game,” Nelson said. “Bad calls hurt us other wise it may have been a different result.” The Cowgirls shut out RU, 2-0, but Nelson said a missed call by the umpire on a hit-bypitch with the bases loaded changed an inning that should have resulted in runs for the Knights (9-14).
JEFF LAZARO
Sophomore tailback De’Antwan “Rocket” Williams will miss the Knights’ spring practices after undergoing knee surgery during the offseason. The Woodbrige, Va., native is expected to return for the summer camp.
Wynn, Williams to miss spring BY TYLER BARTO STAFF WRITER
As the 2010 spring football season approaches, Rutgers head football coach Greg Schiano knows that his young FOOTBALL r oster, comprised of 62 players with three or four years of eligibility remaining, will have to mix and match. That process will be further magnified by the absence of a few notables, who will miss spring practice with offseason surgery and rehabilitation. Chief among the absentees is junior offensive lineman Desmond Wynn, who will not participate in spring drills after shoulder surgery. Wynn, who started at both guard positions last season, will be ready for summer practice, Schiano said. Without Wynn, the offensive line, which lost three starters following the 2009 campaign, will undoubtedly take on a different look during spring ball. “I’m not really sure,” said Schiano when asked about the
makeup of his offensive line. “With Desmond down, I know the guys that are going to be in the mix. We’re going to move guys around.” Sophomore running back De’Antwan “Rocket” Williams will also be forced out of practice following knee surgery in the offseason. Following Jourdan Brooks’ transfer to Morgan State, Williams is expected to compete for viable playing time behind junior Joe Martinek. But Williams’ absence opens the door for junior Tyrone Putman, a former Rutgers track runner, who will likely get substantial carries in spring ball along with a few others. “I see things there,” said Schiano of Putman, a Fort Washington, Md., native. “And he’s going to get a shot now. He’s going to figure out if he’s good enough to do it at this level or not.” Another back that will likely add to the position’s summer competition is fifth-year senior Kordell Young. The oft-injured Young had knee surgery after the 2009 season and is ready for summer practice, Schiano said.
The West Deptford, N.J., native led the Scarlet Knights in rushing in 2008 with 554 yards, but was plagued by recurring knee injuries that forced Martinek into action as a freshman. In a non-football-related incident, early-enrollee Betim Bujari has an undisclosed injury, forcing him to miss spring practice. The freshman offensive lineman was expected to compete for open positions, but his injur y delays that opportunity. “It’s a shame about Betim’s situation because he was ready to go, but you can’t mess around with some things that need to be taken care of,” Schiano said. “We’ll do that and then we’ll get him back in the summer time.” The other Knights who will not be able to participate in the coming weeks include tight end Fabian Ruiz, wide receiver Jamal Merrell, linebacker Colin McEvoy, linebacker Mar vin Booker, and wide receiver Mason Robinson, who suffered a seasonending knee injury in last season’s opener against Cincinnati.
T H E D A I LY TA R G U M
SPORTS
PA G E 2 0
MARCH 22, 2010
Hill stays on after meeting with Pernetti
Three-pointers rain on helpless Scarlet Knights
BY KYLE FRANKO
BY STEVEN WILLIAMSON
CORRESPONDENT
SENIOR WRITER
Fred Hill Jr. is not got going anywhere — at least not next year. Rutgers athletic director Tim Pernetti MEN’S BASKETBALL a n n o u n c e d Wednesday that Hill will remain the men’s basketball head coach. “Fred Hill is under contract as our men’s basketball head coach,” Pernetti said in a statement. “We had a productive meeting and look forward to working together to build the program.” The two met Wednesday afternoon to discuss the goals and needs of the program and Hill said the meeting went very well. “We had a great meeting about the direction of the program like we do at the end of every year,” Hill said in a teleconference. “It was my first opportunity to sit down with Tim and we’re excited where we are going and the support of the administration.” If Hill were fired, the University would owe him just over $1.5 million with that total rising to $1.8 million if he was let go after April 5. Rumors regarding Hill’s future persisted for the majority of the season. The Scarlet Knights started Big East play 0-8 before finishing 5-13 in the league and 15-17 overall record. They fell to Cincinnati 69-68 in the opening round of the Big East tournament.
2002 when Tom Tanis earned the distinction. “This will drive [Russo],” Goodale said. “We have come a long way but we have to break through on that level. There are guys out there that believe they are always going to win, we have to work on spreading that mentality to our guys.” The road in the tournament became tougher for Russo when he was upset 3-0 by West Virginia’s Brandon Williamson. Falling into the consolation bracket, the Netcong, N.J., native rebounded by pinning two opponents to set a date with Ellis.
STANFORD, Calif. — Minutes after the Rutgers women’s basketball team’s 70-63 loss at the hands of Iowa, a subdued Brittany Ray WOMEN’S BASKETBALL sat at the podium. The Scarlet NCAA RUTGERS 63 Knights’ Tournament life IOWA 70 lasted only 40 minutes, and her career in a Rutgers uniform finally came to an end. After the team’s up-and-down season finished on the Hawkeyes’ terms, the senior guard reflected on her time as a Knight. “I’d have to say the season was a little bit of a rollercoaster but we showed up near the end,” Ray said. “Being a senior you want to go out differently and advance as far as you can, but unfortunately we lost our first game. But it was just a blessing that I was able to come here and get a scholarship and play for Coach Stringer.” RU saw four players score in double figures, including 15 points from Ray and 14 from sophomore forward Chelsey Lee. Statistically, Saturday’s game was one of the strongest the Knights played this season. The Knights sported an even assist-toturnover ratio and a 52 percent shooting clip bolstered it in the second half. But in the end, the Hawkeyes were simply better, outrebounding the Knights 3929 and hitting 44 percent of their threepoint opportunities. “Honestly, if we had to lose to somebody there’s no other team I’d like to lose to than the Iowa Hawkeyes,” said Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer. “I thought that we played hard, but Iowa is just better. We just weren’t quick enough and they played a better game today.” After facing a deficit for the majority of the game, RU finally regained the lead with just over 14 minutes to play on a layup by Lee. While RU increased its lead to five, the Hawkeyes’ Kachine Alexander drained back-toback threes to reclaim the narrow advantage. Iowa’s three-point shooting was as lethal as advertised. Though the Hawkeyes went only 2-for-11 from downtown in the first half, they more than compensated in the second with an 8-of-12 shooting clip. “We’re exchanging twos and they’re exchanging threes. We are not a three-point shooting team, number one,” Stringer said. “So it looked like we were scoring more, but when you’re making that many threes, that’s what going to happen.” Neither team took a commanding advantage, swapping buckets through the final minutes. With only 3:35 remaining in the game, RU found itself trailing by only three, but never got over the hump. Iowa drained another three-pointer while RU imploded, turning the ball over back-to-back possessions as the Hawkeyes stormed ahead on a 7-0 run. The Knights had one final shot at bringing the game within a single possession on a steal by sophomore guard Nikki Speed, but the ball rolled around the rim and off, ending RU’s hopes of the comeback win. “We were not very smart today,” Stringer said. “Anxious and excited, but not very smart, and that’s why we’re sitting here with the ‘L.’ We knew what Iowa was going to do, there was nothing that they did that surprised us.” The Knights pulled out all the stops, but could not find the winning formula. Stringer shuffled the lineup, looking for the perfect combination to stifle the Hawkeyes’ attack. The Knights whipped out the 55-press repeatedly, but struggled to generate points off their defense. “I think when we actually picked up the press we did a good job getting the steals, but
SEE ENDING ON PAGE 18
SEE KNIGHTS ON PAGE 17
SEE MEETING ON PAGE 15
DAN BRACAGLIA/ SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Head men’s basketball coach Fred Hill will remain at the helm for his fifth season after meeting with athletic director Tim Pernetti and putting an end to rumors of his dismissal.
ANDREW HOWARD/ SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER/ FILE PHOTO
Redshirt freshmen Dan Rinaldi, top, and Joe Langel got a taste of the national spotlight this weekend when they joined five other Knights at the NCAA Championships in Omaha, Neb. Both grapplers advanced to the second day of wrestling.
No All-Americans cues bittersweet ending BY ALEX JANKOWSKI ASSOCIATE SPORTS EDITOR
The season came to a close for the final seven members of the Rutgers wrestling team this weekend at the 80th NCAA Championships in WRESTLING Omaha, Neb. And although the Scarlet Knights sent the most wrestlers to nationals since 1960, their quest to bring home an All-American fell short. “I’m a little disappointed we didn’t bring home an All-American, but that’s not on any one of our wrestlers, they all did a great job,”
said head coach Scott Goodale. “Something we learned as a coaching staff is that it’s all about being tough. We can compete from a technical and a talent standpoint, but you have to be mentally tough. We are going to stress that area.” All year long the frontrunner to reach AllAmerican status on the RU roster was heavyweight D.J. Russo. The junior fell one match short of earning the honor, when he dropped a 4-2 decision in overtime to defending champion Mark Ellis of Missouri. For the Knights, their drought without an All-American extended to eight years with the loss, not having an All-American since