THE DAILY TARGUM Vo l u m e 1 4 3 , N u m b e r 4 5
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
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 3, 2011
1 8 6 9
Today: Partly Cloudy
BEWITCHED, BOTHERED AND BEWILDERED
High: 61 • Low: 43
Halloween may be over, but Inside Beat is still spellbound by the mystic. Read an investigation of the most popular sci-fi and fantasy shows on TV.
City council holds off decision on sidewalk biking ban BY TABISH TALIB CORRESPONDENT
JOVELLE ABBEY TAMAYO / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
The New Brunswick City Council tabled a resolution last night that may prohibit bikers of all ages from riding on the sidewalk. It does not clarify whether it applies to campus sidewalks.
Prosecutor’s office to distribute tasers to county police
The New Brunswick City Council last night decided to wait before voting on an ordinance that would reinstitute a ban on sidewalk cycling, instead choosing to take a deeper look. In the mandate, cyclists are only allowed to ride on multi-use sidewalks on Rt. 18, Rt.1 and Rt. 27. The city’s ban on sidewalk bicycling has existed since 1893, before it was eliminated last year after it was unknowingly revoked along with another ordinance regarding bike registration, said Bill Bray, city spokesman. The council is working to undo this action. “The section was deleted in error, so this is all a housekeeping issue,” he said. But some residents and riders at the meeting held in City Hall on Bayard Street criticized the ban for its lack of age and zoning specifications.
Bray said the ordinance was once a law for more than 100 years and that no one complained about it in the past. “It wasn’t until some people thought that it might be politically advantageous [to] … fight the city because they [think we] are anti-student,” he said. Andrew Beshold, a North Brunswick resident and instructor for the League of American Bicyclists, said in his experience most cyclists ride on the sidewalk because of the lack of bike lanes. “Ver y little has been done to engineer city streets, not just here in New Brunswick, but all throughout New Jersey to accommodate cyclists safely and properly,” Beshold said. Charlie Kratovil, a community activist, said he was disappointed in the city not getting its first bike lane as promised because of a lack of funds from the state and logistical issues.
SEE BAN ON PAGE 4
TRYING ON A CULTURE
BY AMY ROWE ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR
The Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office will purchase 29 tasers, one for each municipal police department and law enforcement agency in the county, in an effort to provide another way to protect officers and the public. As much as $72,500 will be available to buy these electronic control devices, according to a release from the prosecutor’s office, which came after N.J. Attorney General Paula Dow approved police officers who complete Taser International training to use these tasers. “Properly trained police officers will now have another tool to protect the citizens of Middlesex County,” Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan said in the release. Aside from training with the manufacturer, which released the X2 and X26 models meeting the attorney general’s criteria for conducted energy devices, of ficers will train with the New Jersey Police Training Commission. Kaplan offered to provide one device to any police department that sends officers for training, as he served on the Attorney General’s Advisory Group to study less lethal ammunition. By offering funds for the initial device purchase, he hoped authorities would see its benefits and purchase more devices while also training more officers to use them. The New Brunswick Police Department will accept a taser from the prosecutor’s office. “We plan on working with the prosecutor’s office under the guidelines of the Attorney General to have one or two officers trained with the taser,” said Sgt. Mark Pappas, spokesman for the NBPD. As the attorney general’s office had not previously acknowledged officers’ use of tasers, the NBPD has never worked with the electronic control devices, he said. After more guidelines are released from the attorney general’s office or the prosecutor’s office, the department will move forward with training their officers, Pappas said. “Any tasers we purchase in the future, those two officers will train the newer officers,” he said. “We plan to purchase more, but from here we’ll have one and go from there.”
SEE TASERS ON PAGE 4
JENNIFER KONG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Students style around the world by dressing in saris, kurtas, paji and kimonos to learn about traditional fashions last night during the Rutgers University Programming Association’s “How to Wear the World” Multicultural Fashion Workshop in the Multipurpose room of the Busch Campus Center.
University ranks as one of top Fulbright fellowship producers BY ANASTASIA MILLICKER ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR
For the third year in a row, the University continues to remain a prominent figure when it comes to producing Fulbright fellows. With 14 recipients last year, the University is tied with Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania, Brown and Cornell, according to a Fulbright publication in the Chronicle of Higher Education. “Last year, Fulbright had 86 people apply, and 13 from my group received Fulbright grants. This year we had 93 applicants and on both sides [graduate and undergraduate applicants],” said Arthur Casciato, University director of Distinguished Fellowships. Casciato, who started at the University five years ago after working at the University of Pennsylvania, said the increase started after he made modifications to the program in his second year. “The first year I was here, eight people applied,” he said. “During my second year, I changed things up and 32 people applied, the year after 36 people. More people are coming in and applying.” Casciato said the increase was because of two reasons — more people are applying and the University now offers trained faculty Fulbright advisers.
“I began to reach out to faculty to become Fulbright advisers,” he said. “There are two advisees per one adviser. You need support to be competitive, and working with two people you get direct support.” Diana Won, a Fulbright grantee in Colombia, said via email correspondence that the University has done well in receiving Fulbright grants o Colombia over the past few years. “There are two Scarlet Knights here now, and there have been grantees in the past two years as well,” she said. “I think more than anything it brings more national recognition to Rutgers, something that we deserve and should be proud of since there are so many incredibly bright students here.” Won said she thinks the number of Fulbright grantees has increased because of Casciato’s student outreach. “We have always had good students at Rutgers, but it was a matter of having them apply for Fulbright, which was not as frequent before we had this Office of Distinguished Fellowships,” she said. Matriculating undergraduate seniors, graduate school students or those who graduated from the
SEE UNIVERSITY ON PAGE 4
INDEX METRO A group is holding a coat drive to help struggling families deal with harsh winter weather.
OPINIONS Lady Gaga teamed up with Harvard University to create the Born This Way Foundation.
UNIVERSITY . . . . . . . 3 METRO . . . . . . . . . . . 7 OPINIONS . . . . . . . . 10 DIVERSIONS . . . . . . 12 CLASSIFIEDS . . . . . . 14 SPORTS . . . . . . BACK
ONLINE @
DAILYTARGUM.COM