pell grant Federal aid awards are necessary in promoting economic diversity
see OPINIONS, page 6
Fat sandwich Rutgers signature sandwiches rate high in taste but low in nutrition see SCIENCE, page 8
FOOTBALL Rutgers wins consecutive Big Ten wins for first time ever
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MonDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2017
RUSA approves $130K budget for special events Christina Gaudino Staff Writer
At last week’s Rutgers University Student Assembly meeting, members voted to recognize Laura Luciano’s work on the End Sexual Violence campaign. The assembly then delved into budgetary measures, allocating $130,000 to 11 student organizations. JEFFREY GOMEZ / ASSOCIATE PHOTO EDITOR
At the Rutgers University Student Assembly (RUSA) meeting last Thursday, members passed a resolution honoring Laura Luciano, former assistant director of the Office for Violence Prevention and Victim Assistance (VPVA) in New Brunswick. The legislation, entitled “Resolution for RUSA to Thank Laura Luciano for Outstanding Service to the Rutgers—New Brunswick Community,” was sponsored by the Health and Wellness committee and presented by Rita Portenti, the Sexual Violence Education Department director, and Jessica Resnick, a Livingston senator. Luciano, who has worked at VPVA in New Brunswick since 2001, is now leaving to start a VPVA office at Rutgers—Camden, said Resnick, a School of Arts and Sciences sophomore, as she began the presentation. Luciano began work in the anti-sexual violence field as a student activist during her years as an undergraduate at Rutgers, according to the VPVA website. She became a program coordinator for VPVA in 2001 and assumed the role of assistant director in 2007, according to the website. “She had a huge role here for 16 years, working to prevent sexual violence on this campus and really advocating for survivors here,” Resnick said. “So we made a resolution to commemorate her time here ...
and also to wish her luck and support her as she continues her journey on this issue.” Portenti, a School of Arts and Sciences senior, said Luciano was not only important to the program itself, but also in helping many individual survivors of sexual violence. “If any of you were at the (Joe Biden) rally and you heard the survivors’ testimonies, a lot of them thanked Laura personally,” she said. Laura Christiansen, assistant director of Student Involvement and a faculty advisor to RUSA, also jumped up to share her own story. Fifteen years ago as a first-year at Rutgers, Christiansen had utilized VPVA services during her first semester and said that Luciano was her counselor. “She did a lot of things in her tenure here at the University. She brought the Healing the Wounded Heart program, she founded the Clothesline Project, she created Denim Day fashion show, she did the 24 Hour Truce. All of these amazing things were her ideas,” Christiansen said. In addition to those programs, Luciano has also contributed to the University-wide End Sexual Violence campaign by running the volunteer crisis response team, the Take Back the Night program and the Empty Chair campaign, according to the resolution. The text of the legislation also thanked Luciano for her service to the community at large through her See budget on Page 4
Aggravated assaults leave 2 hospitalized Alexandra Dematos Editor-in-chief
Two individuals were sent to the hospital over the weekend for injuries sustained from unrelated aggravated assaults, according to two separate crime alerts sent to the student body. At approximately 2:20 a.m. Saturday, a University-affiliated victim was allegedly approached and assaulted by eight to nine males on Bishop Place, adjacent to College Avenue, who then fled. There were no weapons involved in this incident and no descriptions of the perpetrators, according to the first crime alert On Sunday at approximately 1 a.m., a non-University affiliated victim was allegedly assaulted with a
sharp object while intervening in an altercation between two people he did not know on High Street, between Somerset and Hamilton streets, according to the second crime alert. Descriptions of the perpetrators are limited at this time. Both victims were transported to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries, according to the crime alerts. The Rutgers University Police Department will provide students, faculty and staff with escorts upon request by calling the police communications center at (732) 932-7211, according to the police reports. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the New Brunswick Police Department Detective Bureau at (732) 745-5217.
The Rutgers community received two crime alerts this weekend pertaining to two separate aggravated assaults — both of which left the victims hospitalized. One took place on Bishop Place and the other on High Street. JEFFREY GOMEZ / ASSOCIATE PHOTO EDITOR
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