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RUTGERS UNIVERSITY—NEW BRUNSWICK
MONDAY, APRIL 4, 2016
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Oxfam celebrates global cultures at annual event NIKITA BIRYUKOV
the School of Arts and Sciences senior said. Recently, their focus has been placed primarily on the Syrian refugee crisis. Through their efforts, the club was able to gather “a truckload” of clothes to send to migrants living in Turkish refugee camps, she said. But aid is not all that the organization has to offer. In addition to its charitable and fundraising activities, the club acts to dispel misconceptions and make the surrounding community more attuned to the state of the disenfranchised living around the world, said Ranya Elmaghariki, the club’s vice president. “I’ve personally been to Turkey and I’ve seen them. People have a misinformed perception of what’s going on over there and how people are really affected by the crisis that’s going on in Syria and the Middle East,” the School of Arts and Sciences junior said. The larger organization works hands-on in more than 90 countries all over the world, Rana said. Instead of just providing aid to these communities, the organization empowers individuals that have been taken advantage of by their governments. “When you think of places in Africa, or even places in Asia, you would think of them as having very large rural communities,” she said. “Even though they do, what happens is because of the corruption in their government or the corruption in their local region a lot of them are taken advantage of.” This corruption can result in those citizens being forced to live without food or clean water, she said.
ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR
More than 50 students gathered Thursday for OXFEST, an event celebrating the multiculturalism found at Rutgers while attempting to educate attendees about issues faced by many living around the world. Hosted by Oxfam Rutgers, the University’s chapter of Oxfam International, the event sought to engage the Rutgers community by providing them with a slew of cultural performances and a feast featuring cuisines from all corners of the globe. Proceeds from the event will be donated to the international group. Among the night’s four performances were showings by the RU Dhol Effect, named for the ancient South Asian drum responsible for the group’s unique sound and the Rutgers Salsa Club, who took to the stage and later taught their audience how to dance like the best. After a short intermission for dinner, HARU took to the stage to show off their signature K-pop routines. The Rutgers Chinese Dance Troupe closed the night with a showcase of traditional Chinese dances. “Oxfam really tries to tell all of its ... chapters across the board to host events that are fun, because the issues of poverty and injustice are really depressing issues,” said Ameena Rana, president of the Rutgers chapter. “They kind of avoid talking about these things.” In the past, the Rutgers chapter had gathered clothing, funds and foodstuffs for a wide range of charitable causes, including New Brunswick’s own homeless community,
ONE at Rutgers hosted a screening of “He Named Me Malala,” a film based on the life of activist Malala Yousafzai, an 18-year-old who has fought for all women’s right to go to school for the last seven years of her life. BRANDON YOUNIE
Film screening recognizes life, work of Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai CAMILO MONTOYA-GALVEZ CORRESPONDENT
A screening of “He Named Me Malala,” a biopic about 18-year-old activist Malala Yousafzai, attracted a crowd of more than 100 students to the Livingston Student Center on Wednesday night. ONE at Rutgers organized the event to discuss the group’s goals and offer attendees the chance to sign letters to Congress. As a chapter of the international ONE Campaign, ONE at Rutgers aims to consolidate student political power around campus. Through letters and phone calls, members encourage New Jersey politicians in Washington, D.C.
to continue assistance to regions of the world with high levels of pover ty and underdeveloped educational infrastructures. “A big part of our general message is just the power of standing up and using your voice to advocate for something that you believe in,” said Tiffany Wu, president of the chapter and a Rutgers Business School senior. “This is what Malala has done.” Yousafzai began fighting for educational opportunities for women in her native Pakistan when she was 11 years old. Her advocacy for equal rights and outspoken criticism of the Taliban’s oppressive policies made her a prime target of their attacks.
On Oct. 9, 2012, Taliban gunmen boarded her school bus and shot Yousafzai in the head and neck. Her miraculous story of survival and continued activism provoked international sympathy and made headlines around the world. “It’s a shame that it took something as drastic as that to happen before the world paid more attention to her,” Wu said. “She was speaking out about this for quite some time.” Yousafzai was invited to the Oval Office in October of 2013 to meet President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. In a move that surprised many, she told the president that she did not agree SEE LAUREATE ON PAGE 5
Groups emphasize importance of Eve Ensler speaks at U. clean water access in 2-mile walk in annual lecture series AVALON ZOPPO MANAGING EDITOR
ALEXANDRA DEMATOS COPY EDITOR
In a room adorned with signs reading “In Vagina We Trust,” famous playwright and feminist Eve Ensler, author of “The Vagina Monologues,” held a lecture Thursday night before feminists and fans. “A Conversation with Eve Ensler,” was the lecture for this year’s Annual Susan and Michael J. Angelides Lecture, sponsored by The Institute for Women’s Leadership Consortium, the Rutgers Office for Violence Prevention and Victim Assistance and the School of Social Work’s Center on Violence Against Women and Children.
Lisa Hetfield, associate director and the director of development at the Institute for Women’s Leadership, introduced Ensler to the audience. “Ensler first performed ‘The Vagina Monologues’ 40 years ago,” Hetfield said. “Since then it has become the foundation for a grassroots movement against the violence against women and girls.” This year is the 20th anniversary of the premier of “The Vagina Monologues,” which has been translated into more than 45 languages and performed in more than 120 countries, according to event’s website. SEE SERIES ON PAGE 5
Several student organizations hosted a walk on Saturday to raise awareness of how difficult it is for more than half a billion people to access clean water. COURTESY OF KAJOL BHATIA
VOLUME 148, ISSUE 29 • UNIVERSITY ... 3 • OPINIONS ... 6 • CLASSIFIEDS ... 7 • SCIENCE ... 10 • DIVERSIONS ... 11 • SPORTS ... BACK
From taking a shower to washing hands, many students may take their easy access to water on campus for granted. In other parts of the world, people have to walk miles for water. Rutgers Unicef hoped to draw awareness to the global water crisis Saturday morning with a two-mile walk from the Douglass Student Center to the College Avenue Student Center. “We wanted to look at the global water crisis that is happening, especially with children around the world,” said Kathr yn Lobo, president of Rutgers Unicef. “Children and women in many different locations have to travel great SEE WALK ON PAGE 5