The Daily Targum 2010-10-28

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THE DAILY TARGUM

Volume 142, Number 41

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

Today: Mostly Sunny

MUSIC MARATHON

High: 73 • Low: 43

The College Music Journal takes over New York City to line up new talent. Inside Beat compiled an alphabet of new artists to add to your playlist.

THURSDAY OCTOBER 28, 2010

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Rally calls for changes at U., fair treatment

Vague crime alerts enable stereotyping

BY RYAN FLOOD

BY COLLEEN ROACHE

STAFF WRITER

ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR

Queering the Air, a queer-centric social justice organization mostly comprised of University students and staff, held a march and rally yesterday called “Justice Not Vengeance” that started at the intersection of George Street and Albany Street and culminated on the steps of Brower Commons on the College Avenue campus. The participants marched up to Brower with chants such as “Not in our names! Justice not vengeance! Stop playing games!” and holding signs with the words “justice not vengeance.” The rally called not only for changes such as safer housing and gender-neutral spaces on campus but also focused on the racially controversial reactions to University firstyear student Tyler Clementi’s death.

“I knew it was an award that was open to so many people and I know that there are a lot of great and smart people, but I kind of took a shot at it to see what I could do,” Fabian said. Likewise, Drobnick said she did not know who was applying or how many people were vying for the award, but she knew she wanted the title. “I was really nervous for my interview, especially when I realized it was students who

Students who pay attention to University crime alerts may notice a pattern — most of the time, the description of the suspect includes two certain words: “black” and “male.” The Clery Act, a federal law, requires all institutions of higher education that receive federal student aid funding to disclose information about crime on their campuses that poses a continuing threat to students or employees. The University falls into this category, but some question whether crime alerts act as a deterrent to crime or an aid to police. “Logically speaking, I can’t see how telling everyone, essentially, to be on the lookout for young black men, early 20s, between 5 feet 8 [inches tall] and 6 feet is going to have any practical value,” said Paul Hirschfield, a professor of sociology at the University. In fact, Hirschfield said such generic information could cultivate a culture of anxiety among students. Information like that included in crime alerts may lead people to think of crime in racial terms. “Such information may even lead students to be unnecessarily fearful and cautious when encountering people who fit these generic descriptions,” he said. “On the other hand, if information on fairly unique characteristics like scars or tattoos is also provided, I would expect it to be of greater practical value.” But Rutgers University Police Depar tment Chief Rhonda Harris said, while victims are never to blame, their circumstances may make it hard to come up with a thorough description. “I don’t want to imply that a poor description or the circumstance of any crime is the fault of the victim,” she said. “I think they’re doing the best job they can with giving us the information they recall about the situation.”

SEE AWARD ON PAGE 4

SEE ALERTS ON PAGE 4

SEE RALLY ON PAGE 6

SCOTT TSAI

Members of Queering the Air and the LGBTQ community chant for “justice not vengeance” at a rally last night on the steps of Brower Commons on the College Avenue campus.

RUPA selects students for annual award BY POOJA CHAUDHARY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

In recognition of their hard work, the Rutgers University Programming Association bestowed upon School of Arts and Sciences seniors Peter Fabian and Selena Drobnick the title of Distinguished Man and Woman of the Year. The award, announced annually at the Homecoming football game, acknowledges the overall student achievement one male and one female candidate reached throughout his or her

career at t h e University. “It shows and highlights how outstanding some of our students at t h e SELENA University DROBNICK can be,” said Matthew Johnson, vice president of Public Relations and Marketing for RUPA. To be considered for the award, Fabian and Drobnick

Study reveals facts on minority drug use BY RASHMEE KUMAR CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Hispanic middle school students are more likely to use cigarettes, alcohol or marijuana than adolescents of other ethnicities, according to a study published in the University’s Center of Alcohol Studies’ September issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. A team from the Research and Development Corporation found that, among 5,500 seventh and eighth graders from 16 middle schools in Southern California, Hispanic students reported higher rates of substance use while Asian students reported the lowest rates of substance use. “This age group is really important to understand, because this is a really important developmental time when we know that teens tend to

initiate use, so trying to understand what might contribute to that is important for prevention,” said Elizabeth D’Amico, principal investigator of the study. Of the students surveyed, about 22 percent reported drinking at least once in their lifetime, 10 percent said they had smoked cigarettes and 7 percent had used marijuana, according to the study. In comparison, Hispanic students’ self-reported substance use was greater than the total percentages while white, black and Asian students were much less, said Regina Shih, author of the study and RAND Corporation associate behavioral and social scientist. In addition to sur veying par ticipants about their levels of substance use, researchers attempted to explain the responses

SEE FACTS ON PAGE 6

under went an application process consisting of submitting a résumé and an essay and interviewing PETER with the FABIAN R U P A board, Johnson said. The other requirement was to be a junior or senior with 65 credits earned from the University and 84 credits overall.

VOICE-ACTIVATED POETRY

INDEX UNIVERSITY Rutgers-Camden leaders work on plans to merge a city public library onto the university campus.

OPINIONS “Rally to Restore Sanity” provides a forum for all those whose voices have yet to be heard.

UNIVERSITY . . . . . . . 3 OPINIONS . . . . . . . . 8 DIVERSIONS . . . . . . 10 CLASSIFIEDS . . . . . . 12 ENRICO CABREDO

Uruguayan-born vocalist Sabrina Lastman performs poems from writer Idea Vilarino at “Dialogues of Silence” yesterday at the Loree Dance Theatre on Douglass campus. The event featured work that expressed poetic experiences of sound, image and dance.

SPORTS . . . . . . BACK

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