TRUMP SUPPORTERS Repealing the 19th Amendment is not an option
Tackling hiv University researchers test experimental AIDS medications
football Knighjts fall to Illinois, 24-7, on Homecoming to remain winless in Big Ten play
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WEATHER Intervals of clouds with a chance of showers High: 80 Low: 59
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monday, october 17, 2016
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Sexual assault reports jump in recent years alexandra dematos copy editor
Sexual assaults at Rutgers have been increasing since 2011, with the largest jump coming from 2013 to 2014. While numbers dropped into 2015, they are still greater than in the previous three years. SUSMITA PARUCHURI / DESIGN EDITOR
The 2016 Safety Matters Report reveals a general increase in rape cases from 2013 to 2015 compared to the previous 2015 Safety Matters Report by the Rutgers University Police Department (RUPD), which included cases between 2011 and 2013. In 2015, there were a total of 31 reported rape cases and 15 cases of fondling. While the number of rape cases from 2015 is slightly lower than 2014, it is higher than previous years. In 2011, there were 3 reported cases of rape. Ten were reported in 2012 and 18 in 2013, according to the 2015 Safety Matters Report. Rutgers University Police Department Captain Kenneth Cop said that there was a 21 percent decrease in Clery sexual
New initiative tackles racism, diversity issues noa halff associate news editor
In the past month, Snapchat was used by University students to share racist photos and captions at five different universities across the U.S. At the University of North Dakota, a photo was posted of three white students smiling with the caption “locked the black b**** out,” referring to a roommate locked out of their residence hall. Another photo shows four female students wearing black masks with the caption “Black Lives Matter.” A similar photo was shared by a Quinnipiac University student showing a smiling female student wearing blackface with the caption “Black Lives Matter.” A Kansas State University student posted a photo with blackface, referring to herself by using a racial slur and waving what intends to be a gang sign. And at Prairie View A&M University, a Mexican student posted a photo of her face covered with black tape with the caption, “When you’re tryna fit in at your HBCU.” Similar behavior can happen anywhere, said Mia Kissil, Senior Program Director at Center for Race and Ethnicity at Rutgers. “And I think it does happen anywhere,” she said. “We have this thing called freedom of speech and people think they can use in often inappropriate ways.”
This issue is not unique to those universities or the age group of university students either, said Delia Pitts, associate vice chancellor at the Office of Diversity and Inclusion at Rutgers. Students individually can help prevent incidents like this from happening in the future, as well as the issue of racism on campus, said Allison Harbin, a Graduate School-New Brunswick student. Rutgers is highly diverse, but the issue of racism on a university campus is not based off of experience and exposure alone, Pitts said. “It is much based on ignorance,” she said. These photos illustrate the impulse to be juvenile, Harbin said. Harbin said these incidents emphasize the problem of white privilege, saying the students involved did not understand the racist and discriminator y visual legacies they referenced. Kissil said students are looking for attention and may not be considering the full trajector y of their actions. In the past, Kissil said students were only able to communicate with their immediate group of friends or people in the vicinity. The rise of social media apps, such as Snapchat, mean that students now have a global audience. “There’s an ability now that there would not have been five or See issues on Page 4
offenses from 2015 to 2014 for the New Brunswick campus. The Jeanne Clery Act requires colleges and universities receiving federal funding to prepare, publish and distribute campus security policies and crime statistics by Oct. 1 of each year, according to RUPD’s website. “These numbers reflect incidents reported directly to the Police Department as well as those reported to Campus Safety Authorities,” Cop said. Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Felicia McGinty said the increase in cases since the last report can be linked to overall awareness. “The most likely rationale for the increase of reports of sexual assault on the New Brunswick campus is that there is increased awareness about resources available to See reports on Page 5
Students express alarm at discolored water in facilities nick huber staff writer
The SAC has been conducting research regarding the issue since its initial charge to investigate. Its most recent findings revealed that 8 out the 14 universities in the Big 10 were smoke-free schools, according to the response. Emily Arezzi, a School of Arts and Sciences senator at-large, said the SAC was still working on the charge for a smoke-free Rutgers.
Anthony Rizzo was confused when he turned on a shower faucet in his New Gibbons residence hall and discovered brown water. He was left confused as to what was causing the discoloration. Students have complained about brown water coming out of Rutgers’ pipes, making them feel skeptical about drinking from their own faucets. Rizzo said his fellow residents did not shower because of the discolored water. Rizzo’s resident assistant hold him that the discoloration was due to New Brunswick flushing out the fire hydrants. After running the water, Rizzo said it ran clear. Rutgers Environmental Health and Safety (REHS) typically receives a couple of calls each semester about brown or discolored water, said University spokesperson E.J. Miranda. Many incidents of discoloration are due to a break or repair of a water main, renovation, construction activities, heavy water usage such as the fire department putting out a fire or the flushing of fire hydrants, Miranda said. “Most of the water provided to Rutgers, including off-campus
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See facilities on Page 5
The Student Affairs Committee, a part of the University Senate, furthers student goals and issues in the Rutgers governing body. BRANDON YOUNIE
U. Senate looks at smoking on school campus grounds nicholas simon contributing writer
The Student Affairs Committee is currently reexamining the school’s on-campus smoking policy with the hopes of having Rutgers evolve into a smoke-free campus. The SAC was originally instructed in March of 2013 to “examine the desirability, feasibility, impact and means of evolving into a smoke-free Rutgers,” according to a response by the SAC.
VOLUME 148, ISSUE 88 • University ... 3 • opiNIons ... 6 • classifieds ... 7 • science ... 8 • Diversions ... 9 • SPORTS ... BACK