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MONDAY NOVEMBER 28, 2011
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Today: Sunny
HARTFORD HEARTBREAK
High: 64 • Low: 52
The Rutgers football team entered Saturday’s game at UConn with hopes of a BCS berth and a chance to win a share of the Big East title, but lost, 40-22.
Super Committee cuts threaten higher education budget BY MATTHEW MATILSKY STAFF WRITER
After the Super Committee’s failure to make appropriate spending cuts, an unspecified amount of federal funding for higher education will be slashed during the 2012-2013 school year. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the automatic spending cuts will reduce most non-defense discretionary spending, like federal student aid, by 7.8 percent in fiscal year 2013 alone, according to fastweb.com, a website that provides resources for paying for college. The remaining $2.3 billion in annual federal student aid funding — excluding the Pell Grant — next fiscal year will see about $183 million in cuts to programs, like Federal Work-Study, SEOG and TEACH Grant programs, according to fastweb.com. The potential cuts in January 2013 could also restructure student loans by eliminating the six-month grace period allowed before initial payments and reducing the funding for research grants, said Matt Cordeiro, Rutgers University Student Assembly president. “This is a total and utter failure and a bad example of leadership,” said Cordeiro, a School of Arts and Sciences senior. “People prefer communism over the United States government right now. They’re sending the wrong message to kids.” He said the specific consequences of the cuts are unclear but are likely to affect the 86 percent of undergraduate University students relying on financial aid and funding for research. “It will be interesting to see what happens,” Cordeiro said. He said the Congressional Super Committee, a bipartisan special joint group formed to compromise on planned cuts like this one and increase revenue, has put pressure directly on students. Joe Cashin, corresponding secretary for RUSA, said the Pell Grant, which provides grants to low-income students, and Stafford loans, a type of low-interest loan for eligible students, are resources the government might cut. According to fastweb.com, the maximum Pell Grant will be cut by approximately $310 in 2013-14, since each award year spans the last quarter of the previous fiscal year and the first three quarters of the current fiscal year, affecting about 9 million students. RUSA teamed up with the United States Student Association in their postcard campaign, a national effort that sent about 20,000 postcards to members of the Super Committee, 2,000 of which came from the University, he said. “With the postcard campaign, we were tr ying to say to Congress, ‘Don’t balance the budget on our backs,’” said
SEE BUDGET ON PAGE 4
NOAH WHITTENBURG / ASSOCIATE PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
The possibility of new vendors and truck mobility could break the traditional idea of the grease trucks. The trucks cost the University $93,467 since 2007 between security, electric and grease removal.
Students weigh in on grease trucks issue BY ALEKSI TZATZEV ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR
University officials are still discussing the future of the grease trucks and plans to send out a survey to students in an attempt to hear the consumers’ side in the upcoming weeks. But some have already made up their minds. “I’m kind of upset that they are trying to get them off,” said Alex Bugowski, a School of Arts and Sciences senior. “They’ve been around for so long that they are a Rutgers tradition now, and they should be here.”
For business and health reasons alike, the University may open the space to bidders, endangering the grease trucks’ 18-year-long stay. One potential change could require the lot occupants to be mobile from 3 to 6 a.m. A major problem is cost for the University. The trucks’ owners currently pay rent of $62,400 total per year, leaving the University with a $93,467 deficit since 2007 because of security, electric and grease removal, according to data provided by Jack Molenaar, director of the Depar tment of Transpor tation Ser vices.
“They should work something out with Rutgers that could help the University out because it’s not fair that they are kind of getting a break,” Bugowski said. “But I think they should still be around because it’s a tradition here.” Bugowski said a more diverse choice of food would be a good thing because all of the grease trucks serve the same food, but they still remain a part of the University. Other students disagreed. “I find them filthy,” said Michael Saunders, a Mason Gross School of the
SEE TRUCKS ON PAGE 5
Council aims to connect Jewish culture, greek life BY ANASTASIA MILLICKER ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR
GETTY IMAGES
Max Baucus, D-Mont., is one of 12 Super Committee members, which announced their measures on Nov. 21 to close the nation’s $1.2 trillion budget deficit.
Looking to bridge the gap between Jewish and greek life, three interns from the National Peer Network Engagement Internship at Rutgers Hillel are organizing the first JewishGreek Council at the University. “The Jewish-Greek Council is a studentrun program the Jews of greek life and Jewish traditions [created] to gain more religious understanding and facilitate opportunities for the two to mingle,” said Emily Schwartz, cofounder of the Jewish-Greek Council. Ben Locke, a co-founder, said the planning began in September when he interned at Hillel with Schwar tz and co-founder David Freschl. “They were a part of the Peer Network Engagement Internship through Hillel, which connects Jewish students who haven’t been traditionally connected to the Jewish community [through Hillel],” said Sarah Portilla, Jewish-Greek Council faculty adviser. Locke, a School of Arts and Sciences junior, said while working at Hillel, he wanted to
join Jewish and greek life together and the trio started their works to create the first Jewish-Greek Council at the University. There are similar programs at Cornell University and University of Michigan, and Locke said he spoke to Dean of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs JoAnn Arnholt in the past since many students expressed an interest. “We’ve been recruiting and wanted to create an executive board as soon as possible, hopefully by winter break,” he said. The first step was getting the council approved by the Interfraternity Council. After meeting with Arnholt, the group decided this would be a good way for Jewish Panhellenic members to connect, said Schwartz, a School of Arts and Sciences junior. “Because we started it through Hillel, it is a completely student-run organization,” she said. “We don’t want to discourage students from joining just because we did start this through Hillel.” The details for the executive board are not complete, but Schwartz said she would
SEE COUNCIL ON PAGE 4
INDEX UNIVERSITY Alumni around the globe make an effort to give back to their local communities.
METRO The Elijah’s Promise executive director is the recipient of the 2011 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Community Health Leaders Award.
UNIVERSITY . . . . . . . 3 METRO . . . . . . . . . . 7 OPINIONS . . . . . . . . 8 DIVERSIONS . . . . . . 10 CLASSIFIEDS . . . . . . 12 SPORTS . . . . . . BACK
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