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FRIDAY APRIL 22, 2011
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Today: Rain
SENIOR CIRCUIT
High: 50 • Low: 42
The Rutgers softball team welcomes Big East stalwart DePaul to Piscataway this weekend, when the Knights honor their three seniors in the final home series.
Monk offers students spiritual guidance BY ARIEL NAGI CORRESPONDENT
A Hardenberg Hall classroom filled nearly to capacity last night as the Rutgers University Bhakti Club held its last meeting of the semester, bringing in Radhanath Swami, a renowned monk who travels across the word discussing spirituality and Bhakti yoga traditions. Giving advice on how to deal with stress, Swami said the key to happiness is gaining a powerful spiritual foundation so when it hits, there is internal strength to combat any circumstances that lead to it. “It’s our natural duty to try to do the best we possibly can and to be as progressive and successful as possible,” he said. “But we should build our life on a solid foundation — a foundation that when things change dramatically, we will have stability.”
Swami said a common mistake people make is they forget about the most important thing a human being needs — to love and to be loved. Instead, so many people focus on themselves and on feeling powerful rather than helping others. “The desire for power is just an internal emotional weakness,” he said. “Real strength is the desire to serve.” He questioned the notion that the world is happier today than it was years ago due to the rapid advances in technology and medicine, arguing that the world has become too focused on consumerism. While he said these advances hold a lot of value, they could still be a distraction to people and cause them to lose touch with building a foundation that keeps them strong.
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SCOTT TSAI / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
New Jersey First Lady Mary Pat Christie names Matt Cortland, a School of Arts and Sciences senior, a New Jersey Hero yesterday for the launching of an autism mentorship program with his Theta Delta Chi brothers.
Governor’s wife honors BUD work BY JOHN MALCHOW CONTRIBUTING WRITER
DEEBEE UKAH
Renowned traveling monk Radhanath Swami spends an evening with students in Hardenbergh Hall on the College Avenue campus.
New Jersey First Lady Mar y Pat Christie visited the University yesterday to recognize student efforts toward building greater awareness of autism. Matt Cortland, a School of Arts and Sciences senior, was named a New Jersey Hero for launching BrosUniteD (BUD), a program in which the members of the Theta Delta Chi fraternity mentor teenage boys with autism. “I really am thrilled to be here to honor Matt,” Christie said. “Theta Delta Chi is doing some amazing things.” The event, held at the Rutgers Zone on Livingston campus, was
J&J employees wear casual attire for Japan BY TABISH TALIB CORRESPONDENT
Employees at two Piscataway locations of Johnson & Johnson (J&J) Health Care Systems Inc. added a charitable twist to casual workdays. Workers raised $3,382.36 last weekend for the Greater Somerset County Chapter of the American Red Cross for Japan relief effort by each donating $5 to wear casual clothing to work, said Angela Culver, director of communications at J&J Health Care Systems. “We combined the ability of employees to wear jeans along with a small donation,” she said. “But people gave much, much more.” Culver said the number of people participating in the fundraising efforts could not be determined due to the large number of employees at the 425 Hoes Lane and 800 Centennial Ave. offices. “We raised the money during lunch hours of April 16, 17 and 18, and people just came in droves,” she said.
Employees chose to donate to the Greater Somerset County Chapter of the American Red Cross, because some employees had previously volunteered with the organization, Culver said. The focus to raise funds for Japan was in light of the massive earthquake and tsunami in early March, devastating the eastern coast of the countr y, she said. “We donated to the Red Cross as a way to contribute to the relief efforts in Japan,” Culver said. “We wanted to help the people there cope with the devastation.” Several employees at J&J Health Care Systems contacted the organization to discuss how to send the collected donations to Japan, said Jessica Alfrey, community development relations manager for the Greater Somerset County Chapter of the American Red Cross. “We mostly serve county residents with blood drives and training, but
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par t of Christie’s promotion of Autism Awareness Month. “I’m traveling around the state [this month], and I’m trying to highlight some of the great things that we’re doing in the community,” she said. Christie said the motivation to educate the public on autism has grown in recent years, particularly in the Garden State. “New Jersey has a 1 in 94 rate of children with autism,” she said. “We must be aggressive and at the forefront of the entire country.” The first lady credited BUD’s success to Cortland and Alex Lewis, a School of Arts and Sciences junior, who next semester will take over the program. Theta Delta Chi members spend their Saturdays with par ticipating
autistic teenage boys, taking them on spring recreational trips, Courtland said. “The program has really taken off in the past two years,” he said. “The brothers have taken an active part in it. We had a committee of 19 brothers planning.” The newly named “hero” said the honor would help put some negative labels about greek life to rest. “There are some stereotypes about fraternities, and we want to show that good can be done, too,” Cortland said. Lewis hopes to expand BUD in the future to the fraternity’s other chapters. “We’d really like to see similar programs at [other] universities
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EVENING FESTIVITIES
INDEX UNIVERSITY The Debate Union prepares for a national tournament at West Point this weekend.
OPINIONS Gov. Chris Christie and Newark Mayor Cory Booker make it to Time’s most influential people list.
UNIVERSITY . . . . . . . 3 METRO . . . . . . . . . 5 NATION . . . . . . . . . . 7 OPINIONS . . . . . . . . 8 DIVERSIONS . . . . . . 10 CLASSIFIEDS . . . . . . 12 NELSON MORALES / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Students enjoy authentic Taiwanese food, games and performances in front of the Rutgers Student Center on the College Avenue campus yesterday for the eighth annual “TASA Nightmarket.”
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