THE DAILY TARGUM
Volume 141, Number 58
S E R V I N G
T H E
R U T G E R S
C O M M U N I T Y
S I N C E
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 20, 2009
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Today: Showers
GAMBLER’S PARADISE
High: 58 • Low: 41
Unbeaten on the road and having bested Syracuse by a combined 42 points the previous two years, the Rutgers football team is only an 8.5-point favorite for its trip north tomorrow to the Carrier Dome.
Students stand up for U.S. health care reform BY BRETT WILSHE STAFF WRITER
The New Jersey Public Interest Research Group held a presentation yesterday targeting students who face the uncertainty of health care coverage upon graduation. Equipped with statistics, visuals and an endorsement from Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D6, the group urged support for health care reform. The student chapter set up shop in front of Brower Commons on the College Avenue campus despite the chilly, overcast weather conditions. “The current health care system is failing America’s youth,” said NJPIRG intern Sophia Fishbane, a School of Arts and Sciences student. “Americans aged 18 to 24 are the most likely people in the country to lack health insurance.”
Students who graduate and lose coverage from their parent’s insurance plans often rely on credit cards to pay medical bills. When they do, they accrue an average of $13,000 in debt, she said. The information comes from a new report unveiled by NJPIRG called “Uncovered: How America’s Health Care System Fails Young People.” The report looks at the rising cost of health care and how inaccessible it can be for young adults. “Young workers typically have to deal with temporar y or lower paid jobs, high job turnover, periods of unemployment and employers who are less likely to offer health benefits,” report author Michael Russo said. “It’s not that young people care less about health care, it’s that ever y
COURTESY OF NJPIRG
Adam Helgeson, Livingston Council legislative affairs chair and a School of Arts and Sciences first-year
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student, tells of his struggles with health care yesterday at a forum on the College Avenue campus.
State releases former mayor after 39-month sentence BY KRISTINE ROSETTE ENERIO STAFF WRITER
Former state Senator and New Brunswick Mayor John A. L ynch Jr. was released from federal custody this past Friday after ser ving a 39-month sentence for public corruption.
INDEX UNIVERSITY
After being incarcerated for three years, Lynch is looking forward to spending the holidays with his family, said Middlesex County Democratic Par ty Chairman Joe Spicuzzo, a close friend of Lynch. When it comes to politics, Spicuzzo believes Lynch, who is
banned from holding public office, will not try to reestablish his power in Middlesex County. “I don’t think he’s going to push his views on anybody,” Spicuzzo said. “If he’s asked, he’ll give his opinion.” Lynch pleaded guilty in Sept. 2006 to counts of mail fraud and tax
evasion for the year of 1999, according to a U.S. Department of Justice press release. He spent his first 33 months in a facility in Loretto, Penn., and was transferred to a residential re-entry center this past June, said Federal Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman Felicia Ponce.
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Campus voice gains strength in age of activism BY MARY DIDUCH
During the holiday season, feasting is an activity many are lucky to participate in. NJPIRG alerts the community on the seriousness of poverty in America.
ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR
METRO According to the latest statistics from the Bureau of Labor, the unemployment rate in the city is currently lower than the state’s average of 9.6 percent. UNIVERSITY . . . . . . . 3 METRO . . . . . . . . . 6 OPINIONS . . . . . . . . 8 DIVERSIONS . . . . . . 10 CLASSIFIEDS . . . . . . 12 SPORTS . . . . . . BACK
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He was then sentenced to home confinement in August, where he served the rest of his sentence. Lynch’s arrest, along with the arrests of other notable politicians, was a key factor that influenced Governorelect Chris Christie’s victory in this
COURTESY OF RUTGERS SPECIAL COLLECTIONS AND UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES
Spurred by the tensions of the Vietnam War and the civil rights movement, the University in the late 1960s faced the beginnings of an era defined by protests, demonstrations and cries for change. As several on-campus groups demonstrated against the Vietnam War, the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps’ presence on campus and for civil rights, the University’s president at the time, Mason Gross, welcomed dissent. “The students have every right in the world to object,” wrote Gross in the 1969 yearbook, the Scarlet Letter. “They should make their case clear and indicate the basis of their objection. Then the authorities in the college should jolly well listen to them.” Faculty teach-ins, where teachers would speak about controversial issues well into the night, attacks on ROTC buildings and other on-campus demonstrations in the streets were common, said University Archivist Thomas Frusciano. History Professor Eugene Genovese, a Marxist, spoke out against Vietnam in 1965 at a teach-in, he said. Gross did not dismiss him despite facing external pressure. Several anti-war groups, such as Students for a Democratic Society, often protested to move ROTC off-campus, he said. Three students also showed their hatred of the war by burning their Selective Service cards in front of a crowd, according to the 1968 Scarlet Letter. Frusciano said the polarization of those in favor of the government’s efforts and those against them was strong at the University as
University students in 1969 hold a symposium in the College Avenue Gym to raise awareness for the civil rights movement. On-campus demonstrations and teach-ins were common as the administration was open to peaceful dissent.
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