weinstein U.’s acceptance of donation for feminist cause may be controversial see OPINIONS, page 6
chemistry nobel prize Rutgers scientists
SPORTS Rutgers wins first Big Ten game in two years
discuss importance of cyro-electron microscopy
see SCIENCE, page 8
with 35-24 win over Illinois
SEE sports, BACK
WEATHER Early clouds High: 62 Low: 38
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MONdAY, OCTOBER 16, 2017
Habitat for Humanity holds 24-hour build-a-thon at Rutgers Erica D’Costa Contributing Writer
Another low income or homeless family will have a roof over its head this winter thanks to a group of selfless Rutgers students. On Saturday at noon, Rutgers Habitat for Humanity hosted their annual Build-a-Thon event, a 24-hour event in which students from the club build structures that become part of the construction of a $50,000 home in the greater Plainfield and Middlesex County area. Jessica Mui, a School of Arts and Sciences junior and the large events fundraising chair for the club, said they work with the Habitat for Humanity in the greater Plainfield area to participate in a “half house sponsorship.” This means that the club will pay for half the house and the materials needed to build it. Students fundraised through personal donations and canning around New Brunswick prior to this event to raise money for the supplies they used. “The whole point of having limited materials is to raise awareness for homelessness. When you’re homeless, you kind of just use whatever you have and this is the reality of some people without shelters”, said
Rheanna Duque, a School of Engineering sophomore. All of the money will go directly to building an affordable house for a family in need. “It’s important to have affordable housing,” Mui said. “It is definitely a need in our local community. Housing is expensive. There are a lot of families stuck in the rent cycle that move around a lot, and it’s really hard when you’re doing that to raise a family and have stability in the house. (Habitat for Humanity) works to ensure that families have access to a house that they can afford to live in and a stable place where their kids can grow up in.” Students have the opportunity to go to the house that they are building every weekend to work on it and see the progress. “We work foundation up so we’re there when they lay the foundation. We do everything from the walls of the house to the roof to the inside rooms and putting the drywall up and painting and everything,” Mui said. According to the club, the families that get the house participate in “sweat equity.” To decrease the financial struggle, they can contribute to the home by putting in
The Habitat for Humanity club at Rutgers gathered on Livingston campus this weekend to build a home for a low income family in Middlesex County. KIRA HERZOG / NEWS EDITOR a certain amount of hours of construction work. Jacob Ledden, a School of Environmental and Biological Sciences senior, said this concept of the family contributing to the house themselves alongside Habitat is called giving a “hand up not a handout,” meaning the club helps the poor without just giving them free services or handouts. The families work for their house.
Students slept overnight in the structures they built as a part of raising awareness about homelessness and the need for shelters and affordable housing. “It emulates the struggle of homeless people. Sometimes the weather can get really bad and it can get really cold and that’s some of the realities that they face every day,” Duque said. Juliana Irizarry, a School of Arts and Sciences senior and the director
Voter registration window for N.J. closes tomorrow Christina Gaudino Correspondent
Tomorrow is the final day to register to vote in the upcoming New Jersey elections on Tuesday, Nov. 7. In addition to the gubernatorial election, all 120 seats in the state legislature will be on the ballots, as well as local and county positions. RU Voting, a core project of the Eagleton Institute of Politics’ Center for Youth Political Participation (CYPP), provides nonpartisan resources to help students register to vote, find the correct polling location and make educated decisions on Voting Day. “This fall, New Jersey is one of only two states in the country electing a governor, and the entire state legislature is up for election,” said Dr. Elizabeth Matto, the director of CYPP. Matto emphasized the importance of political participation among young adults. “I encourage students to think about the implications of the political process at the state and local levels, especially given the fact that they are students at a state university. So much of a student’s day-to-day life is impacted by the political decisions made by public officials at the state and local levels,” she said. Matto urged every student to tune in to the election if they haven’t
already. “But the thing is, you have to move fast,” she said. If a student wants to vote in the Nov. 7 election this year, Matto said they must be registered to vote by tomorrow, Oct.17. “It’s really important that students know, in New Jersey, you cannot register to vote online,” Matto said. Students can access the registration form online, available on the RU Voting website. Registration applications must be postmarked by Oct. 17 for the General Election. RU Voting will be available today on the steps of Brower Dining Hall on the College Avenue campus from 9 to 11 a.m. to help students register to vote, said Brendan Keating, program coordinator for CYPP and RU Voting. Students can also drop off completed voter registration forms to the Eagleton Institute of Politics at the Woodlawn Mansion on Douglass campus. RU Voting will collect forms there until noon tomorrow, at which time the forms will be transported to the Middlesex County Board of Elections, Keating said. “Although the voter registration form is very short, it is often confusing for students,” said Monica Beshay, a School of Arts and Sciences senior and an RU Ready student ambassador who has worked with RU Voting for two years.
of outreach for the club, said that by sleeping in the shacks overnight, students create a sense of empathy and consciousness for the homeless. The family whose house the club built the previous year will return to Build-a-Thon after the structures are built to pay it forward by overseeing the project and supporting the students, Mui said. The family will also judge the work of each team to award prizes for the most creative structure and the most stable structure. Irizarry said that she likes how everyone works together to support the event. 90.3 the Core, a student-run radio station, supports Build-a-Thon by voluntarily bringing their DJ booth to the event every year so students can enjoy some entertainment while working, Irizarry said. “This event is heavily community-based, from working with different student organizations to individuals to donors,” she said. “We also get donations from local businesses outside of Rutgers. A lot of local places will donate food or give us discounted materials. We got paint donated. It’s incredible. Everyone comes together to make this happen.”
In wake of disaster, local businesses raise money for P.R. Jacob Turchi Contributing Writer
Looking ahead to Election Day, Matto said it is important to come up with a voting plan. This includes knowing the proper polling location, and how to get there. “One thing that’s really important for students to understand is that they have to vote where they are registered,” she said. Matto explained that if a student anticipates not being able to get to their polling location, either due to a busy schedule or a transportation issue, they can either register to vote by mail with an absentee ballot, or they can
After Hurricane Maria left Puerto Rico devastated, local Rutgers businesses started to hold fundraisers and events in order to raise money for relief efforts for the U.S. territor y. Restaurants and cafes all over the New Brunswick area have made efforts to provide aid to Puerto Rico and collect more money from either scheduled events, specialties or just their own profits. Jimmy Cronk, one of the owners of Destination Dogs on Paterson Street, is hosting a night to raise money for the victims of the hurricane this Saturday. The event will include a DJ at 9 p.m. playing Latin pop classics and salsa music, and a band at 10:30 p.m. providing a fusion of Latin and jazz music until 1 a.m. “We’re gonna clear the tables out and everything,” Cronk said. “We usually don’t have dancing at Destination Dogs but there’s gonna be a lot of it. I hope things get rowdy but in a good way.”
See registration on Page 4
See disaster on Page 4
The New Jersey elections are set to take place on Nov. 7 and the ballot will include the highly anticipated gubernatorial race along with 120 state legislature seats. FACEBOOK “There are a lot of misconceptions about voting, and we want to make sure that everyone is able to (exercise) their right,” she said. Indeed, both voter registration rates and election participation rates among Rutgers students have been on the rise, according to a study published on the RU Voting website. The study found that 76 percent of Rutgers students were registered to vote in 2016. Fifty-four percent voted in the presidential election, which was a 7 percent increase from 2012. “Our registration rates are pretty strong,” Matto said. “It’s just about making sure students who are registered get to the polls.”
VOLUME 149, ISSUE 90 • University ... 3 • opinions ... 6 • SCIENCE ... 8 • Diversions ... 9 • SPORTS ... BACK