THE DAILY TARGUM
Volume 141, Number 134
S E R V I N G
T H E
R U T G E R S
C O M M U N I T Y
S I N C E
THURSDAY APRIL 29, 2010
1 8 6 9
Today: Sunny/wind
TABLE FOR TWO
High: 69 • Low: 46
In the spirit of New Brunswick's Restaurant Week debut, Inside Beat took out its staff for a few nights out on the town to critique some of downtown's culinary gems.
RUSA treasurer wins presidency BY DEVIN SIKORSKI ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR
The first-ever external elections for the Rutgers University Student Assembly ended Tuesday night, electing School of Arts and Sciences junior Yousef Saleh as RUSA president for the next academic year. The student body elected the former RUSA treasurer after intense campaigning by three presidential candidates through every medium at the University and made Saleh the first student elected to the position through the decision of students.
RUSA Elections Committee Chair Ben West said it was a tight race. Saleh’s election did not come easy. “Yousef had a lot of good competition,” said West, a Rutgers College senior. “He won by about 104 votes and Rutgers United swept through the rest of the election.” West said he feels the new administration will provide the University with great student leaders, bringing a diverse assembly and Saleh’s experience in student government. “I do think Yousef has a lot of experience through RUSA, and he
SEE RUSA ON PAGE 6
PATH TO LEADERSHIP COURTESY OF CITY OF NEW BRUNSWICK
The New Brunswick Wellness Plaza will include a fitness center, pool and market that offers healthy options. The $114-million project will be located next to Ferren Mall and will be funded by federal stimulus money.
City unveils plans for wellness plaza BY COLLEEN ROACHE ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR
New Brunswick’s downtown — with its hospitals and pharmaceutical companies — may be a hub for medical treatment. But a new city initiative looks to make sure residents never need it. The New Brunswick Wellness Plaza, the product of a partnership between the New Brunswick Development Corporation, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, Fitness and Wellness Professional Services and the New Brunswick Parking Authority, will provide a
INDEX UNIVERSITY A new math education program aims to provide students with resources to excel.
OPINIONS A nude blog at Bard College displays pictures of women’s breasts in attempt to express themselves. UNIVERSITY . . . . . . . 3 OPINIONS . . . . . . . 10
range of low-cost health and fitness services, Mayor Jim Cahill said. The 625,000-square-foot facility, which is to be located near Ferren Mall, will include a fitness center with cardiovascular and strength-training equipment and an aquatic center with an Olympicsized pool, he said. Federal stimulus money and tax credits will fund the majority of the $114 million project, DEVCO President Chris Paladino said. “So much more than a gym, the center will help our residents understand and improve their overall health, prevent injury and illness
and improve their quality of life,” Cahill said. A 45,000-square-foot supermarket, part of the wellness center, will make fresh produce and other foods available to many who may not have such access otherwise, Paladino said. “The grocery store is an opportunity to really promote healthy eating … and to advocate for a healthier lifestyle through fitness and wellness education,” he said. Included in plans for the facility are meeting rooms for wellness
SEE PLAZA ON PAGE 4
BONNIE CHAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
New Brunswick High School Seniors Jaya Gomanie and Sean Moore participate in a workshop led by RU Ready, a program at the Eagleton Institute of Politics Tuesday on Douglass campus.
Bombelyn lays out hopes for neighborhood reform inspections to two and three-family owner-occupied. … It’s an unfortunate thing, because the two-family owneroccupied market in New Brunswick is extensive. There’s a huge number of folks that are being impacted by this, and they’re very upset. A lot of them have tenants that have been with them for a long time, and they’re very fearful that this is another means of trying to raise revenue in the city. …I think the overcrowding problem is mostly with commercial landlords and not with the owner-occupied two-family.
New Brunswick lawyer Patricia Bombelyn sat down with The Daily Targum’s Associate News Editor Colleen Roache to discuss why she is running for mayor in the upcoming November elections. For the full interview, visit www.dailytargum.com. Colleen Roache: What do you think will be your number one priority if you get elected this year? Patricia Bombelyn: The number one issue is to improve life for all residents and all neighborhoods, especially our neglected neighborhoods, and I think one of the primary focuses has to be with regard to crime. We must have a communication and an accountability system so that crime trends are used for the deployment of police resources. RAMON DOMPOR / ASSOCIATE PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
DIVERSIONS . . . . . . 12 CLASSIFIEDS . . . . . . 14 SPORTS . . . . . . BACK
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CR: You mentioned “neglected neighborhoods.” Which neighborhoods in the city would you define as the neglected neighborhoods? PB: Well look, as we all know, the focus of the last 20 years has been the downtown. There’s been a little bit of attention to some areas outside of the downtown, but if you measure it, there’s an extreme disproportion
New Brunswick Democratic Mayor Candidate Patricia Bombelyn plans to revitalize the city’s impoverished neighborhoods if elected this November. of attention to the downtown versus the other neighborhoods. That has to change. CR: One issue residents say affect people who are in what you called the “neglected neighbor-
hoods” and other areas of city is residential overcrowding. It’s a problem the city council has addressed. What are your views on the city council’s take on this issue? PB: What they did that has really put some folks up in arms was expand the
CR: How would you, then, go about addressing that issue? PB: The most important issue is, really, safety conditions, and the city needs to be responsive on that front. I mean, inspections for safety purposes is something that I think is important and should be continued, but a full range of inspections of all types of code violations I think is inappropriate in the two-family owner-occupied setting. CR: How do you plan to address poverty in New Brunswick?
SEE REFORM ON PAGE 4