SERVICES “One-Stop Shop” may not be as beneficial as U. thinks
see OPINIONS, page 6
PESTO PASTA RECIPE Local farmer’s market offers fresh produce that is easy to cook at home see FOOD & DRINK, page 8
VOLLEYBALL Rutgers continues search for first Big Ten victory since 2015 SEE sports, BACK
WEATHER Mostly cloudy High: 56 Low: 52
Serving the Rutgers community since 1869. Independent since 1980.
rutgers university—new brunswick
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2017
online at dAilytargum.com
2nd swastika on U. student center shines new light on ongoing case Kira Herzog News Editor
On Sunday morning, police responded to reports of a large swastika spray painted on the exterior wall of Stonier Hall. The drawing faced out toward one of the most highly-trafficked areas on College Avenue and featured a black swastika enclosed by the international probation sign — a red circle with a diagonal line through it. Authorities arrived at the residence hall around 10 a.m, according to University spokesperson Neal Buccino, and University officials have since removed the grafitti. The Tab Rutgers reported, with no attribution, that the swastika first appeared on its own, with the red paint added retrospectively to cross it out. But yesterday, Allison Yaffee, a School of Arts and Sciences
sophomore, sent a series of timestamped photos to The Daily Targum that she said pose a contradiction to this narrative. Her photos, taken on the same day behind the Rutgers Student Center, depict at least 10 more graffiti drawings — all with anti-fascist symbols and phrases. The newly-discovered graffiti features another crossed-out swastika with the same coloring as the first, and phrases like “f*ck nazi scum,” “f*ck white nationalists” and “f*ck fascism” that vary between black and red paint. Yaffee did not file a police report by press time and the Rutgers University Police Department (RUPD) did not confirm an active investigation into these particular images. Alongside these photos, Yaffee also shared her own testament, which correlated with the timing
of the pictures and RUPD’s arrrival at Stonier. She said she first discovered the additional graffiti behind the student center around 6 a.m. on Oct. 29. “Early Sunday morning I was walking behind the student center when some red and black writing immediately caught my attention,” she said to The Daily Targum. “The graffiti was expressing anti-fascist sentiments, saying things like ‘Nazi punks F**K OFF’ and ‘f**k Nazi scum.’ Among the graffiti, a big black swastika, circumscribed in a red circle with a slash through it, stood out. I didn’t know it at the time, but a similar incident had occurred outside of Stonier Hall. It was too dark when I first found the graffiti to take pictures, so later that day I went back to the scene to document what I found.”
Yesterday, a student came forward with timestamped photos, suggesting that the swastika on the Stonier Residence Hall may have been a statement against fascism. COURTESY OF ALLISON YAFFEE Because of the second drawing’s remote location and proximity to the anti-fascist phrases, Yaffee said she found the timeframe of the original story unlikely. For clarity, she reached out to the journalist behind The Tab’s coverage, Amber Atabansi, to ask how the publication found out that the red circle was drawn separately. Atabansi responded on Twitter, writing “One of my friends who saw it said when he first saw it, it didn’t have one around it and it
was raining, so he didn’t stay to take picture.” “It seemed improbable to me that on two separate occasions, someone drew a swastika only for another person to come along and paint a red circle with a slash through it, especially considering how obscure the location of the one that I found is,” Yaffee said. If Atabansi’s source had indeed discovered the swastika earlier that morning with no circle, Yaffee said See case on Page 4
RUSA pilots initiative to make feminine hygiene products affordable on campus Christina Guadino Staff Writer
The first meeting of the New Jersey Student Power Network brought students together from across the state to find creative solutions to political issues. MALAIKA JAWED
NJ activists convene at Rutgers for 1st meeting Max Marcus Correspondent
The first organizational meeting for the New Jersey Student Power Network, a group of students and community organizers from all over the state, was held on Saturday. Several Rutgers students attended the meeting, alongside students from other schools including TCNJ and Monmouth University. The meeting was coordinated by New Jersey Student Power, an organization devoted to developing networks of student activists, and Anakbayan New Jersey, a Filipino-American group that advocates for free education and social ser vices.
Matt Cordeiro, the millennial strategist for New Jersey Student Power and a Rutgers alumnus, said that the meeting served to unite otherwise disparate groups through the common goal of political change. “We can get people to come together and work on similar campaigns and channel that energy into concrete change,” Cordeiro said. “It’s good for folks to know they’re not alone in this, their group is not the only one, there are other people around the state that also do it.” Throughout his career, Cordeiro has developed similar student power networks in other states. As a student at Rutgers, he founded an organization See meeting on Page 4
During the full body meeting of the Rutgers University Student Assembly (RUSA) last Thursday, members presented a preliminar y proposal to pilot a free menstrual hygiene program on campus for students struggling with financial insecurity. The average price of a tampon is about 19 cents outside the University, but on campus, the average cost rises as high as 38 cents, according to statistics compiled by the assembly. “(This) is something that students have been asking us to work on for over a little over a year now,” said Evan Covello, RUSA president and an Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy senior. The proposal, which outlined RUSA’s research and future steps for action, was presented to the assembly by Sabeen Rokerya, chairwoman of the Student Affairs Committee and a School of Environmental and Biological Sciences junior, and Sara Bailey, the Douglass at-large representative and School of Arts and Sciences junior. Rokerya and Bailey prefaced their presentation by emphasizing that RUSA is treating menstrual hygiene products as necessities, not as luxury items. “We have an insecurity problem that we need to deal with,” Roker ya said. “We equate it to the necessity of food and other
things that students need to go about their day ... within the educational system.” For nearly a year, RUSA has been in the preparatory stages of developing a program to address the lack of accessibility to menstrual hygiene products for students who need them, in terms of financial insecurity, but also in emergency situations when a student is unprepared. This has entailed researching and consulting other Big Ten schools who have created similar programs and communicating with the University Facilities & Capital Planning office (UFCP) and other University organizations, including the Women’s Center Coalition, which Bailey represents, the Douglass Governing
Council and the Douglass Friends of UNFPA. Of the 13 Big Ten schools, nine of them have either already implemented, or are in the process of implementing a free menstrual hygiene product program, Roker ya said. “More than half of our population is affected by this, so it should be a conversation that Rutgers is having,” Bailey said. Rokerya said the main issue is an accessibility problem. Since the dispensers in women’s bathrooms across campus are often broken and unstocked, in a pinch students would have to go to convenience stores on campus. See campus on Page 4
A lack of accessibility to female hygiene products has prompted members of RUSA to initiate a program which meets student demand. DIMITRI RODRIGUEZ / PHOTO EDITOR
VOLUME 149, ISSUE 100 • University ... 3 • opinions ... 6 • Food & Drink ... 8 • Diversions ... 10 • SPORTS ... BACK