FIRST AMENDMENT U.S. citizens have the right to express their opinions without fear of being silenced see OPINIONS, page 6
MENTAL HEALTH Although suicide prevention
MEN’S SOCCER Rutgers notches second win of
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month is ending, the conversation is just getting started
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THURSdAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2017
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With election day nearing, Murphy holds Town Hall at Rutgers Kira Herzog News Editor
Inside the drawing room of the historic Eagleton Institute of Politics, Democratic candidate Phil Murphy greeted a packed crowd of students, reporters and community members. With the gubernatorial election quickly approaching, the Town Hall style meeting symbolized his last appearance at Rutgers University before the polls open on October 7. Murphy currently leads in the polls by 25 percent over his opponent Kim Guadagno, according to NJ Advance Media. Guadagno was scheduled to lead a similar town hall at Rutgers this Thursday, but canceled the event at the last minute, citing scheduling demands. During his hour-long appearance, Murphy spoke about increasing college affordability, improving infrastructure and health care, the current threats to undocumented immigrants and his plan for creating a more transparent administration. “You wake up every day thinking that you’ve got what you’re going to focus on in New Jersey, then you get these out of left field things. You know, I wasn’t expecting to be talking about the NFL a few days ago, or North Korea a few weeks ago or LGBT in the military — it’s just extraordinary and DREAMers are high on that list.”
With threats by the federal government to eliminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, Murphy noted that the role of governors in standing up to injustice with a “steel backbone” is particularly paramount. “This one really gets me deeply. You have 22,000 DREAMers in the state, they pay 60 something million dollars in taxes, contribute about a billion, as I recall to economic activity. 91 percent are either in school or working. They are ever y bit as American as my four kids… yet they’re being shown the door.” One of the more nuanced tasks that Murphy wants to take on as Governor is creating an Office of Immigrant Protection, which would handle legal and technical issues faced by immigrants — including those affected by the Muslim ban. Currently, a large portion of the governing that affects citizens is being done on state and local levels rather than in Washington, Murphy said. The Town Hall format alternated between questions from students in the crowd and questions from NJ Advance Media reporter Matt Arco. While a wide-breadth of subjects were covered, many of the students’ questions pertained to college affordability. “The cost of going to college in-state has gone up 20 percent,”
Murphy said, adding that his opponent has helped slow this increase during her eight years as Lieutenant Governor. Murphy’s campaign is advocating for free community college in New Jersey as well as more affordable student loans and the creation of a public New Jersey bank. The latter would make government spending more transparent and clear-cut, he said. His economic plan for the state has similar goals. “This is an economy that is weak, unfair and works for very few. It is an economy, under the almost eight years of the Christie and Guadagno administration, that has favored the big corporations, the very wealthy at the expense of things like funding public education and funding infrastructure,” he said. “I personally am optimistic that we have a lot of good growth opportunity ahead of us. We think we can reignite the innovation economy, we can reignite the infrastructure economy to pick two.” John Weingart, the associate director of the Eagleton Institute of Politics, said that events like the Town Hall are vital because they affect how students interact with politics. “President Trump is taking up a lot of the oxygen, so there’s less focus on the gubernatorial race,” Weingart said. “We don’t get a new
Last night, Democratic candidate Phil Murphy held a gubernatorial Town Hall meeting at the Eagleton Institute of Politics on Cook campus. JEFFREY GOMEZ / ASSOCIATE PHOTO EDITOR governor often, we know we’re going to get a new governor, that’s usually a much bigger deal in terms of everyday conversation than it is this year because there is so much going on at the national level that is diverting all of our attention.” The Eagleton Institute holds a number of events and initiatives to encourage political engagement, including the Youth Political Participation Program (YPPP), which helps students register to vote. Six weeks from today, Eagleton will hold a panel discussion entitled “The Morning After,” where
prominent democrats and republicans unpack what happened in the gubernatorial elections and what the implications will be, Weingart said. “I think it’s important that politics be de-mystified so people, all people, including students, understand that politicians are real flesh and blood people who for the most part are tr ying to do what they think is right. They’re tr ying to do really hard jobs and to get exposed to those people usually shows a different image of politicians that most people have.”
U. recognizes ‘Banned Books Week’ on campus Chloe Dopico Associate News Editor
Despite hundreds of challenges per year to censor books, only about 10 percent actually end up getting censored. This is mostly thanks to events like Rutgers’ “Banned Books Week,” which aims to celebrate the freedom to read. The event aims to highlight the importance of access to information, according to the site. It also intends to raise awareness about the dangers of censorship. This year is different than the celebration in year’s past because the Art Library received a Freedom to Read grant, said arts librarian Megan Lotts. Lotts said the grant provided them with opportunities to make this year’s “Banned Books Week” bigger than ever, including exhibits and swag. She was also able to work with four Mason Gross School of the See books on Page 4
Over the course of the last week, Rutgers recognized “Banned Books Week” with giveaways, performances and exhibits on campus. The goal of the event was to draw attention to the dangers of censorship while encouraging students to read freely. COURTESY OF MEGAN LOTTS VOLUME 149, ISSUE 78 • University ... 3 • opinions ... 6 • CULTURE ... 8 • Diversions ... 9 • SPORTS ... BACK