MODERATES Students with far-left or right wing views should take all opinions into consideration see OPINIONS, page 6
NATIONAL CAPPUCCINO DAY Traditional
Italian caffeinated drink gets its own American holiday
see FOOD & DRINK, page 8
WRESTLING John Van Brill sees postseason success in his future this year
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WEATHER Partly cloudy High: 52 Low: 32
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Murphy claims victory in NJ governor’s race Kira Herzog News Editor
On Tuesday night, voters officially elected Phil Murphy as the next governor of New Jersey. Murphy maintained a double digit lead over Kim Guadagno throughout the gubernatorial race and ultimately claimed victor y in Middlesex County by a margin of 22,000 votes. The Democrat is scheduled to be sworn in as the state’s 56th governor in mid-Januar y. The newly elected governor told The Daily Targum that his priorities as governor will include raising New Jersey’s minimum wage to $15 per hour, ensuring that DREAMers are protected across the state, reducing the cost of higher education and legalizing recreational marijuana. At the end of the night, Murphy held 56.4 percent of votes, according to The New York Times. The wide margin of this victor y was predicted by most major polling websites, based on Christie’s lack of popularity and
the fact that the state has not voted red in a presidential election for more than 30 years. In the weeks leading up to last night, however, his lead in the polls closed from 25 points to 15 points. Given that New Jersey was one of two states to elect a governor last night, most of the nation had their eyes on this governor’s race, said Elizabeth Matto, the director of the Center for Youth Political Participation at Rutgers. “These sorts of races are seen as opportunities to get a sense of what voters are thinking and which way they are leaning politically as we look ahead to midterm elections,” Matto said. “They reflect ahead to the national political mood.” On the campaign trail, Murphy made it clear that he intends to move away from the policies of his predecessor, whose eight year tenure ended with a 14 percent approval rating. “I have a lot of interest in defending the interests of all 9 million residents of the state of New Jersey,” Murphy said.
Democratic candidate Phil Murphy won last night’s gubernatorial election by a wide margin and is slated to take over as the 56th governor of New Jersey in January. In Middlesex County, Murphy’s lead was comprised of more than 20,000 votes. DIMITRI RODRIGUEZ / PHOTO EDITOR / OCTOBER 2017
New Zimmerli museum director plans to combine activism with art Abner Bonilla Contributing Writer
Students and their families took part in “Miracles for the Middle East,” a benefit banquet held to raise money and support free medical care for children in the Middle East. JEFFREY GOMEZ
Rutgers banquet benefits Middle Eastern refugees Erica D’Costa Contributing Writer
Out of the 21.3 million refugees fleeing war zones or prosecution across the globe, approximately half are children. On Saturday, the Arab Cultural Club (ACC) and the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF) collaborated to produce “Miracles for the Middle East,” a benefit banquet that was held at the Cook Campus Center. The banquet was a social and philanthropic event that raised money to provide free medical care
for children in the Middle East. Students and their families took part in the fundraiser, which featured free food, music, a guest speaker, a comedian and much more. Selsebil Akat, a School of Arts and Sciences senior and the historian of the club, talked about why this year’s event was unique. “Usually we just raise money for one countr y specifically. For example, last year we focused on Syria. This year we wanted to expand and reach more people so See refugees on Page 4
Behind eyeglasses with a tortoiseshell frame and pink temples, museum professional and art historian Thomas Sokolowski detailed his statewide project as Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum’s newest director. In a museum that houses more than 60,000 works of art, Sokolowski said he will take on a greater activist role compared to past directors in how he will run operation and how the museum will respond to the world we live in. “I would like us to be seen … as the activist art center of New Jersey,” said Sokolowski. Mr. Sokolowski led The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh for 14 years as its director until 2010. Prior to that, he was the director of the Grey Art Gallery & Study Center at New York University from 1984 to 1996, chief curator at the Chrysler Museum in Norfolk, V.A. from 1982 to 1984 and founder of Visual AIDS, an organization that established the Dec. 1 “Day Without Art” to commemorate the AIDS crisis. At his tenure at The Andy Warhol Museum, Sokolowski came into a
town that suffered from a long history of severe racial stratification, he said. “When I first got there, there was no place in the city that was welcoming,” Sokolowski said. To help racial relations, Sokolowski was not afraid to touch on sensitive topics. In an exhibition, he played on Pittsburgh history, taking late-19th century to early-20th century photographs of lynching and drew a contrast to Pittsburgh publishing the first African-American newspaper in 1907, the Pittsburgh Courier. Then, a separate exhibition on Nazi’s use of eugenics drew a parallel to Andy Warhol’s thoughts on “what is perfect” in the terms of beauty, he said. Another award-winning exhibition of Sokolowski’s that was controversial showed printed photographs of Iraqi detainees being tortured by American soldiers at the Abu Ghraib military prison, and in order to be fair, he said it juxtaposed them with Middle-Eastern propaganda. “Then, I said, what the museum can do, in addition to showing Andy Warhol’s art, was make to ourselves a vital center rather than just a museum,” Sokolowski said. “A place
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where people from all strides could come in and feel welcome.” Sokolowski then introduced “Good Friday’s,” a weekly Friday night event where people could have a drink, see a movie, hear bands like Vampire Weekend, but most importantly, have a place to talk, he said. With a strong LGBT community in Pittsburgh, some nights would be “drag nights,” he said. “But it wasn’t all drag queens with glamour, there were people that were transgender who would come in and feel welcome,” Sokolowski said. “They would not be ‘oddities’ there.” Sokolowski commented on Rutgers diverse community, and he hopes to bridge a gap between the rich history of social criticism in the Zimmerli’s collection with current issues that he would be open to starting a dialogue on today. “I think museums of all strides, but particularly university museums, should be nimble,” Sokolowski said. The Zimmerli Art Museum displays collections with a history of social commentary, including its See art on Page 4