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tuesday, October 1, 2013
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Student Volunteer Council launches service program for Homecoming By Shawn Smith Correspondent
During Homecoming Week, there is an increased sense of pride throughout the University. This year, the Student Volunteer Council teamed up with the Homecoming Council to begin a new tradition — 1,766 hours of community ser vice. Jennifer Lee, public relations and marketing chair for SVC, said the number of hours was chosen because 1766 was the year Rutgers was founded. “Our goal is to achieve 1,766 hours of community ser vice,” said Lee, a Rutgers Business school junior. “Both student organizations and individuals can earn hours towards our final goal.” Yamila Nicasio, director of SVC, said the idea is to get more people involved with ser vice at the University. Par ticipants in the 1766 campaign can log onto the community ser vice website to log their individual hours. Par ticipants who log 10 or more hours will receive a free Homecoming T-shir t. “We are tracking hours with what students log online,” said Nicasio, a School of Environmental and Biological Sciences senior. “We want to reach and exceed our goal before Homecoming weekend.” Krista Kohlmann, program coordinator for Student Involvement, said the idea for the 1,766 campaign came from a discussion she had with a coworker. This is the first year of the program, and depending on its reception, it could become an annual event. “This event keeps with the spirit and tradition of Homecoming,” she said. “The website is an initial test run to keep track of hours.” Students can track any ser vice events they attend, beginning this past weekend with the “Scarlet Day of Ser vice,” Lee said. Over the course of the weekend, volunteers earned 3.5 hours each, equaling about 1,200 hours. The 1,766 campaign continues until Sunday, Oct. 27. Par ticipants are not just limited to events set up by SVC, Kohlmann said. There is a spot on the website that is open for suggestions, where groups can setup a ser vice event. “We welcome all kinds of ideas,” she said. “Anything with a positive social impact will be considered for earning hours.” Anything that includes direct ser vice will be counted, she said. This can be anything See HOMECOMING on Page 5
Matt Georgi, middle, stands with his parents James Georgi, left, and Patricia Georgi, right, at his graduation ceremony. Matt Georgi planned to run the 41st Annual 18 Mile Run Oct. 13 to raise money for student veterans. COURTESY OF CHARLES TREMATO
Students band together to run for Rutgers veteran By Alex Meier Associate News Editor
Matt Georgi planned to run the 41st Annual 18 Mile Run on Long Beach Island Oct. 13 to raise money for student veterans — a cause dear to him, as both he and his father were student veterans at Rutgers. On the morning of Sept. 22, his 32nd birthday, Georgi posted a link to his fundraising website, asking friends and family to donate, said Stephen Abel, director of Veteran and Military Programs and Services. But later that morning, a heart attack took Georgi’s life. Georgi completed his undergraduate courses at Rutgers and was
scheduled to graduate cum laude this term. At a crowded viewing and memorial service for Georgi on Friday in his hometown Manahawkin, N.J., the University presented his family with a diploma. Abel said Georgi’s father asked guests to send donations to his son’s cause, the Rutgers Emergency Grant and Scholarship Fund, in lieu of flowers. This gesture is indicative of a quality that defined Georgi: selflessness. Patrick Munkacsy, a School of Arts and Sciences senior, said after Georgi’s death, other veterans discussed how Georgi made this trait seem effortless. But in the past, Georgi told Munkacsy otherwise — he consciously made the decision to be a good person every day.
“Some of us sometimes get angry or selfish or whatever. He would take a minute and reflect and decide not to do that,” he said. “He didn’t have a gift for it, he just worked really hard at it. For me, that meant more and frankly hurt more when he was gone.” Munkacsy noticed Georgi’s selflessness firsthand during his first year at Rutgers, which was an especially difficult period in his life. Georgi always offered to grab lunch or coffee with Munkacsy for the sole purpose of being there for him. Hometown friend Megan Magis had a similar experience. When she met Georgi in high school, the two discovered both of their fathers had heart problems.
“I would kind of run to him in a way, and talk to him about my dad’s heart issues,” she said. “He’s just so helpful, so sweet and so kind … [Georgi] was always there just to be a really good friend.” This hard work was not only channeled into shaping his character. Georgi applied himself in every aspect of his life — in studying, in working, and as his friend Thomas Hazlett recalls, shaping up his classic Mustang on a daily basis. But Georgi’s hard work never diminished his sense of fun. Hazlett, a School of Arts and Sciences junior, recalled spending summers with him on Long Beach Island, where See VETERAN on Page 5
Former Oregon Gov. Barbara Roberts reflects on career By Wilson Conde Staff Writer
Former Oregon Gov. Barbara Roberts visited Rutgers yesterday to discuss her book, ‘Up the Capitol Steps: A Woman’s March to the Governorship.’ She said she wrote it because it was important to make history come alive. KARL HOEMPLER / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Oregon’s first and only female governor, Barbara Roberts, gave a talk on her book “Up the Capitol Steps: A Woman’s March to the Governorship” at the Wood Lawn Mansion on Douglass Campus yesterday evening. The event was hosted by the Eagleton Institute of Politics and the Center for American Women and Politics. During her talk, Roberts read stories about her personal life and how she got into politics. She began by discussing how she wrote her book because it was important to make history come alive. “History is not meant to sit on a shelf,” Roberts said. The fact she was one of the first 10 female governors in American history also motivated her to write the book, she said, as she wanted the public to know how the first female governors were able to pave the way for other women. In addition, very few female governors have published their personal stories on their accomplishments.
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“Four of the first 10 female governors are now deceased,” she said. “This history is slipping through our fingers.” Roberts also read passages on her childhood, her introduction into politics, her campaign for governor and her life after being governor. During her childhood and adolescence, women were not often expected to go to college or become political leaders, she said, but instead, were expected to be stay-at-home mothers. Even in high school, women were not expected to be the decision makers in student government. “We were not the presidents of the student councils,” Roberts said. “We were the secretaries. Nobody questioned that.” She first got into government to advocate for a bill that would require Oregon schools to provide for high quality educational programs for children with special needs, she said, especially since she has a son who benefitted from such programs. See CAREER on Page 6