LEFT BRAIN, RIGHT BRAIN People with disabilities are capable and do not need pity
WILL SMITH How the actor and other celebrities are using social media to rebrand
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MEN’S BASKETBALL Rutgers squanders a halftime lead and throws away a chance at the upset
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RUTGERS UNIVERSITY—NEW BRUNSWICK
TUESDAY DECEMBER 4, 2018
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Douglass College holds 100-year holiday tradition CATHERINE NGUYEN STAFF WRITER
Voorhees Chapel was filled with Douglass students and alumni Sunday night for the 100th annual Yule Log Ceremony, a tradition to welcome the spirit of the holiday season. The first Yule Log was held in College Hall in 1918, when students from the New Jersey College for Women — now known as Douglass Residential College — were asked to burn a yule log and light a tree in front of the building, according to the pamphlet provided at the event. While gathered in College Hall, the students held candles and sang songs while the yule log was placed in a ceremonious fireplace. The tradition has continued every year since, but in 1927 the location of the ceremony was moved to Voorhees Chapel because of the increasing number of students at the women’s college, said Sonia Khalil, the program coordinator of the Yule Log. “College Hall became too crowded,” she said.
This year’s ceremony began with songs sung by the Voorhees Choir. Some of the songs were traditional holiday favorites that everyone in the audience sang along to, such as “Deck the Halls,” while other songs reflected winter holidays celebrated in other countries, such as “Carsko Momce Kon Sedlae,” a Bulgarian carol arranged by singer Lily Storm. Lined along a staircase in front of the chapel’s pews were “stair seniors,” volunteer Douglass students in their final year at Rutgers. Between songs, they read excerpts from various cultures. Some of the readings included lines from the Rig Veda, the Quran, the farewell statement for Kwanzaa and the Bible. In keeping with tradition, they dressed in white robes and wore wreaths on their heads to represent light. While many traditions from the original Yule Log remain, the songs and readings changed over the years to become more incluSEE TRADITION ON PAGE 5
Since 1927, the Yule Log has been celebrated in Voorhees Chapel because of the increasing amount of students enrolling in Douglass Residential College. Elizabeth Rodman Voorhees donated the money to build the chapel in 1925. CATHERINE NGUYEN / STAFF WRITER
Proposed NJ bill will require Rutgers students to get meningitis B vaccine RYAN STIESI NEWS EDITOR
Rutgers students looking to get their meningitis B shot can do so at the Hurtado Health Center on the College Avenue Campus. Students can also find other options off campus. THE DAILY TARGUM
A bill progressing in the New Jersey State Legislature would require Rutgers students living on campus to receive meningitis B vaccinations. Following multiple cases of the bacterial infection at Rutgers in 2016, the University began offering vaccinations and prevention methods specific to the outbreak, as reported by The Daily Targum. In October 2016, Rutgers had administered 21,571 doses of the
meningitis B vaccine to students and approximately 3,000 students sent in forms declining to receive the vaccine at that time. While the University has required residential students to receive vaccinations for meningitis A, C, Y and W prior to the age of 16, meningitis B vaccinations were approved in 2014 and not required. Assembly Bill 1991 could change that. The Assembly Health and Senior Ser vices committee approved the bipar tisan legislation yesterday, which would revise
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the requirement for residential students at four-year colleges to receive immunization against meningococcal disease to comply with recommendations of the Advisor y Committee on Immunization Practices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), according to the bill’s text. It cited recent outbreaks of serogroup B meningococcal disease at both Princeton University and Rutgers and stated the 2014 SEE VACCINE ON PAGE 5