laurels and darts It is upsetting that there is even a need to have a March for Science
CHECK MY SAKAI Jungle Jambooskies release popular single on SoundCloud
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MEN’S LACROSSE Rutgers battles Ohio State in hope of an NCAA Tournament bid
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FRIDAY, APRIL 28, 2017
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Rutgers alumna wins PEN/Faulkner fiction award for ‘Behold the Dreamers’ Kira Herzog news editor
The Association of American Universities (AAU) cited Rutgers as one of the top contributors to its effort to protect students against sexual assault. DIMITRI RODRIGUEZ / ASSOCIATE PHOTO EDITOR / OCTOBER 2016
Report commends U. for sexual assault prevention Chloe Dopico associate news editor
The Association of American Universities (AAU), an organization comprised of 62 distinguished universities that aim to advance society through education, research and discovery, recently published a report on the actions its members are taking to prevent and respond to sexual misconduct on college campuses. The report, titled Combating Sexual Assault and Misconduct, consisted of results from 55 of the 62 universities in the AAU, with Rutgers—New Brunswick being one of them. The report says that all the universities represented in this report have changed and added strategies to combat sexual assault and misconduct on their campuses, according to their website. The report names Rutgers as being a main contributor to the success, according to a Rutgers Today press release. Rutgers piloted a climate survey developed by the Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women as part of a comprehensive campus climate assessment, according to the report.
“We must as an institution adopt a culture of commitment to end sexual violence on campus – a culture of compliance is not enough,” said Rutgers—New Brunswick Chancellor Richard L. Edwards to Rutgers Today. “This report shows that Rutgers has made a commitment and also that, like us, our peer institutions intend to pursue an end to sexual violence on campus.” The campus climate survey was incorporated by several institutions in various different ways. At Rutgers, they implemented #iSPEAK, which was a survey that allowed students to add their voice to the national discussion about how to eliminate sexual assault at colleges and universities, according to Rutgers. Rutgers SCREAM Theater was also a part of the report as a case study for the AAU. SCREAM Theater is a peer education program associated with the Office of Violence Prevention and Victim Assistance (VPVA) that implements improvised skits to educate students on issues of interpersonal violence, specifically sexual assault, according to the study. The study repor ts that Rutgers both modified and enhanced the See assault on Page 4
Earlier this month, Rutgers alumna Imbolo Mbue was presented with the prestigious PEN/Faulkner award for her recently published novel, “Behold the Dreamers.” The annual award is among the most highly regarded in literature. Among its past recipients is Philip Roth, a Rutgers—Newark graduate who went on to win both the Pulitzer prize and the National Book Award for fiction. “Behold the Dreamers,” Mbue’s first finalized novel, was published last year by Penguin Random House, and quickly gained popularity for its intersectional approach to the American dream during the 2007 economic downturn. In an exclusive interview with The Daily Targum, Mbue said her story was influenced by her experiences living in New York City during this period of uncertainty. “In 2011, I was unemployed and I went out for a walk one day and noticed chauffeurs waiting in front of a building in front of the Time Warner building and so I was really intrigued by the relationship between the chauffeurs and the men they worked for. I wanted to write a story about how the economic crisis affected the lives of the immigrant chauffeur and the executive he worked for,” she said. “So my original intention was to write about the financial crisis in two very different families and the different ways the financial crisis affected them.” Mbue was born in Cameroon and moved to the United States to earn her bachelor’s degree at Rutgers. It was at Rutgers that she began to find her footing and after attending graduate school at Columbia, she decided to move to Manhattan. Mbue was a student at Douglass College but she said she didn’t start writing until after she graduated.
She was first inspired to put her pen to the page after reading “Song of Solomon” by Toni Morrison. “I think what Rutgers did for me was it made me who I am,” she said. “I think that had to do with who I met there.” She said that many of the friends that she made at the University remain her friends today and that some of them attended the PEN/ Faulkner Award Ceremony to support her. In her interview, she mentioned that Rutgers alumnus and author Junot Diaz was one of her greatest inspirations. “Rutgers was a just wonderful experience. I remember taking the EE bus from College Avenue to Douglass (campus). I use to live on Douglass. It was all around a wonderful experience. After I left Rutgers and I went into the real world I saw how wonderful it was to be cocooned in New Brunswick, to be protected from the outside of Rutgers. You know, life got more challenging,” she said. In addition to winning $15,000 for the PEN/Faulkner award, “Behold the Dreamers” garnered a slew of positive reviews from outlets including The New York Times and NPR.
The Washington Post described the novel as “the one novel (President) Donald (J.) Trump should read now,” while The New York Times pointed to the underlying optimism that persists throughout the piece. “‘Behold the Dreamers’ is a capacious, big-hearted novel,” The Times review says, “Near the end of it, Neni describes America as ‘a magnificent land of uninhibited dreamers.’ That might aptly describe the book as well.” The book focuses on the stor y of two immigrants, Jende and Neni, who move to Harlem from Cameroon. On a visitor’s visa, Jende earns a position as a chauffeur for a wealthy Lehman Brothers executive who lives on the Upper East side. As the recession hits, both families are affected, but in drastically different ways. “This is my first novel so obviously it was a very new experience for me because I’ve written a lot of stories, but writing this particular story was different,” Mbue said. “It took a lot of writing and rewriting See fiction on Page 4
Following its publication by Penguin Randomhouse, Imbolo Mbue’s debut novel earned immediate critical acclaim and was awarded one of the most highly regarded literary distinctions. FACEBOOK
At Neilson Dining Hall, revamped menu causes jump in attendence Christian Zapata contributing writer
Last month, Neilson Dining Hall restructured their takeout menu to give students increased access to healthier meals. Within the first two weeks, business increased 20 percent. BRIANNA BORNSTEIN
A millennial-driven call for change has swept through Neilson Dining Hall, taking with it the refrigerated chicken breasts and greasy french fries. Dave Donlon, the general manager of Neilson Dining Hall, said as of April 3 the school’s dining service has undergone a complete overhaul of its takeout menu, promising to
deliver on the students’ demand for healthier alternatives as effectively as possible. He said that in closing out the semester, dining services found the remaining five weeks to be pivotal in receiving ample feedback from students as to what changes they wish to see implemented across the board. The menu, curated by Rutgers Dining Services chef manager Ian Keith, looks to touch upon a wide
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variety of diverse foods that reach out to any and all tastes, Donlon said. The plant-forward concept hits heavily on a number of vegan and vegetarian dishes but does not shy away from meat-based products, looking to integrate them in smaller portions. “Our numbers are up significantly, in the first two weeks (they) were up 20 percent in our takeout See menu on Page 4