THE DAILY TARGUM
Volume 142, Number 28
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
MONDAY OCTOBER 11, 2010
1 8 6 9
Today: Partly sunny
FRESHMEN PHENOMS
High: 80 • Low: 56
Freshman quarterback Chas Dodd delivered a historic performance in his first start and found classmate Jeremy Deering to set up a winning field goal against UConn.
Campus feels shock weeks after suicide BY REENA DIAMANTE CORRESPONDENT
to communicate effectively and demonstrate some degree of positive interpersonal relations,” Hopewell said. At the end of their three months at the University, the trainees spent several weeks in Colombia at an agricultural training institute followed by a week of leave. “Our group was invited to the White House, where we met President [John F.] Kennedy and Vice President [L yndon B.] Johnson the day before leaving from New York City for a flight to Bogota,” Hopewell said. The volunteers lived in Hegeman Hall on the College Avenue campus while they attended classes in a number of lecture halls, he said.
Since the death of University first-year student Tyler Clementi almost two weeks ago, the campus saw a number of emotionally-charged rallies, protests and memorials in response to one of the most publicized student suicides. There was a rally for safer spaces, memorials, debates, a candle light vigil at the steps of Brower Commons on the College Avenue campus and a town hall meeting at the Rutgers Student Center, among others. Many students reacted differently toward the death that captured national attention. While most students did not know Clementi personally, it affected many in some way. “I’m still thinking about it,” said Scott Lazes, a School of Arts and Sciences senior. “But the only connection I have with him is we’re both students here. That’s important.” Some students feel the attention given to Clementi’s death has decreased since media outlets left the University campus. “Now news groups have left, people are talking about it in a much lesser degree,” said Kailynn Barbour, a School of Arts and Sciences junior. Brenna Thompson, a School of Arts and Sciences first-year student, feels the issue is still prevalent but not as widespread. “I was on Yahoo a couple of days after the incident and it was already on my news feed,” she said. “Yesterday when I Googled the Rutgers academic calendar, news about it came up also.” Rebecca Zandstein, a School of Arts and Sciences senior, agreed with Thompson, saying the University community is still aware of what happened and is trying to make positive changes.
SEE ALUMNUS ON PAGE 4
SEE CAMPUS ON PAGE 6
RAMON DOMPOR / ASSOCIATE PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
The first Peace Corps volunteers lived at Hegeman Hall on the College Avenue campus during their training session in the summer of 1961.
Peace Corps alumnus looks back on time at U. BY KRISTINE ROSETTE ENERIO UNIVERSITY EDITOR
Seventy-one-year-old Byron Hopewell first stepped on campus 49 years ago, but he did not arrive as a student or faculty member. Instead, he came as one of many men in the summer of 1961 who were to take part in the first Peace Corps training session in the United States. For 12 weeks, Hopewell’s group, known as Colombia I, prepared themselves at the University for two years of ser vice in Colombia by learning different aspects of the countr y’s way of life as well as American government. “We studied Latin American and Colombian history and culture, community organization and development, Spanish
[and] American democracy, with one lecture on Communism,” Hopewell said. Various documents from Hopewell’s notebooks that summer show lessons that covered topics such as the economic development of Colombia and the importance of coffee as an export, taught by former University economics Professor James Street. His notes also show lessons on U.S. foreign policy as well as pragmatism in American culture. Aside from these classes, the trainees also had a physical education program where they learned to play soccer, Hopewell said. In addition to good health and academic knowledge, practical lessons were part of their curriculum. “We were judged on our ability to adjust to new circumstances, learn enough Spanish
NJ voters question president’s religion BY JEFF PRENTKY STAFF WRITER
Nearly two years into President Barack Obama’s term in the White House, many New Jersey residents and Americans in general hold inaccurate opinions about what religion the commander-inchief practices. The University’s Eagleton Institute of Politics released a poll last week revealing that 12 percent of New Jersey residents still believe the president to be Muslim. The poll of 912 registered New Jersey voters was conducted from Sept. 23 to 26. Obama is Protestant, a fact that 43 percent of respondents correctly identified, according to the poll. Three percent think he is Roman Catholic, while 38 percent said they did not know. Nationally, 43 percent do not know Obama’s religion, according to a Pew Center poll released last month.
David Redlawsk, director of the Rutgers-Eagleton Poll and a professor of political science, said in an Eagleton press release that the public’s misconceptions about Obama’s religion are widespread and well documented in New Jersey. “The reason this matters for Obama — while not meaning much for other elected officials — is that those who identify him as Muslim do so in a negative way,” Redlawsk said in the release. “Being Muslim is seen as out of the mainstream. Being identified as Protestant when you are Catholic has limited consequences.” About three-in-four respondents who think Obama is Muslim said they learned so from the media. Ten percent said they think so because of presidential behavior or statements, and 7 percent got such information from the Internet. The
SEE RELIGION ON PAGE 6
CHEERS TO OCTOBER
INDEX UNIVERSITY Students volunteer to do garden work on a Cook/Douglass courtyard.
OPINIONS Transportation Sec. Ray LaHood discusses a ban on using hands-free electronic devices while driving.
UNIVERSITY . . . . . . . 3 OPINIONS . . . . . . . . 8 DIVERSIONS . . . . . . 10 CLASSIFIEDS . . . . . . 12 SPORTS . . . . . . BACK CAMERON STROUD
New Brunswick residents join the Olive Branch bar Saturday behind the Rutgers Student Center on the College Avenue campus for Oktober Fest 2010. All proceeds of the event will support Saint Peter’s University Children’s Hospital.
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