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WEDNESDAY JANUARY 18, 2012
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The Rutgers women’s basketball team remains unable to solve St. John’s after losing, 62-57, at its own game last night at Carnesecca Arena.
Study expects health care act to increase insured NJ residents BY ANASTASIA MILLICKER ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR
New Jersey federally qualified health care centers (FQHC) and clinics will face demands from residents in 2014 if President Barack Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act passes in its entirety. About 85 percent of New Jersey adults, ages 19 to 64, have a usual source of medical care (USC), with 6 percent of those listing clinics as their primary source of care, according to a Rutgers Center for State Health Policy Facts and Findings report.
Those numbers are expected to increase with the implementation of the PPACA, which goes into effect in two years, said Dorothy Gaboda, associate director for Data Analysis Center for State Health Policy and co-author of the report. The act, which Obama signed into law on March 23, 2010, reforms select aspects of the private health insurance industry and public insurance programs and offers insurance options for those who were previously denied because of previous medical conditions and
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Gov. Chris Christie outlines a series of reform proposals for the upcoming year yesterday during his “State of the State” address at the State House in Trenton.
Christie aims to draw families back to state BY AMY ROWE ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR
NELSON MORALES / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
With the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the state’s medical facilities, like Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, are expected to see a rise in patient visits.
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The “New Jersey Comeback” will be in full force for 2012, a plan Gov. Chris Christie laid out yesterday afternoon in his “State of the State” address. Christie’s No. 1 proposal for the year’s budget is to cut income taxes by 10 percent for all N.J. residents in all income tax brackets. “The budget I submit … will be truly, honestly balanced,” he said in his speech, which was broadcast out of Trenton on a live stream on Christie’s website. “[I’ll]
fully restore the earned income tax credit for New Jersey’s working poor … Ever yone made the sacrifice. Ever yone will share in the benefit.” Christie hopes lower taxes will attract more people to move to and stay in the Garden State, a tactic he admitted directly opposes tax increases in states like New York and Connecticut. “New Jersey is once again a place to plan your future, raise your family, grow your business and someday retire,” he said.
SEE STATE ON PAGE 4
‘Fat Darrell’ celebrates 15-year anniversary BY SPENCER KENT
UNIVERSITY An increase in the number of online courses allows students to learn outside the classroom.
OPINIONS A University instructor was recently charged with the possession and distribution of child pornography.
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Fifteen years after a student created the “Fat Darrell” sandwich in search of more variety, the University community still enjoys the tradition. A limited grease trucks menu in 1997 motivated University alumnus Darrell Butler to request a different option. “I was frustrated. I used to only get a ‘Fat Cat’ because there were only a few options back then,” Butler said. “I used to live on ‘Fat Cats.’ I asked the guy if I could pick my own ingredients, and he agreed to do it.” The sandwich was quick to catch on, only taking a few bites to cause a campus sensation, Butler said. “Literally the next 15 people behind me ordered the same thing, and it has been the top seller ever since,” Butler said. Because students seem to care a great deal about more variety, grease-truck owner Ayman Elnaggar said he set out to do everything possible to satisfy the needs of his loyal hungry patrons. “The students come up with the combinations, and we make it,” Elnaggar said. “The food is for the people. It started with the ‘Fat Darrell.’ After the ‘Darrell,’ whatever they said they wanted, we made it for them.”
SEE DARRELL ON PAGE 4
NOAH WHITTENBURG / ASSOCIATE PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
A student chows down on a “Fat Darrell” sandwich, which was named after University alumnus Darrell Butler who created it 15 years ago at the grease trucks located in Lot 8 on the College Avenue campus.
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T H E D A I LY TA R G U M
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Online classes connect U., students internationally Professors use discussion forums to implement alternative strategies to teach, expand student interaction beyond classroom BY SASKIA KUSNECOV STAFF WRITER
In a coffee shop, in a dormitor y bedroom and overseas, students and faculty are gaining dif ferent perspectives on online courses. Patricia Bender, associate director of the University’s Writing Program, brought China to the United States and a piece of America to China last semester in her online “The Ethics of Food” course. Students communicated consistently in an online setting — even though they were divided by thousands of miles — to create a large virtual classroom. “I team-taught it online using Sakai, with a friend and colleague Chunyan Xu, who is from Jilin University in China,” she said. “We had 10 students from Rutgers and 10 from Jilin.” Bender said she prepared the class by having in-classroom classes early in the semester before switching to the completely online format.
Students met their classmates from China through a discussion forum Bender created called “The Virtual Student Lounge,” where students were split into online reading groups with two University students and two students from China in each group. Then students drafted their research papers for later in the semester, all leading up to a goal of creating a digital or conventional presentation at the end of the course for the “201 Poster Fair,” a program aimed toward raising popularity for research courses, Bender said. Another unique component and challenge of the course was completing an oral presentation, she said. Instead of students presenting over the online video chat ser vice Skype, the students posted recorded presentations on Sakai because there is a 13hour time difference between China and the United States, Bender said. Gayle Stein, associate director of Instructional Technology,
said two successful components of online and hybrid courses are their guided discussions and their flexible hours for students. “A good online course will provide good assignments and guide students through the process of learning,” Stein said.
“A good online course will provide good assignments and guide students through the process of learning.” GAYLE STEIN Associate Director of Instructional Technology
She said although online courses can be ef fective for learning class material through online student interaction, the effectiveness of online teaching or any style of teaching depends on the professor.
Ian Kotliar, a School of Arts and Sciences junior, said he found the online course “Development of the Labor Movement” academically unchallenging. Kotliar said the class was easy, and the guided discussion did not add substance to the material. “I’d raise expectations from students if I wanted to make the course more [legitimate] — what’s expected from students, I mean,” Kotliar said. Charles Hedrick, chief technology officer of the Office of Instructional and Research Technology, said the professor’s interest in the course material and ability to engage students in their own learning is the challenge of online courses. Bender said she found her Socratic method of teaching — where the professor gives a series of questions rather than giving direct information and students engage in discussion forms — to be more effective online. “If they don’t respond online, we can’t know if they are there or
are learning anything,” Bender said. “Students who are quiet in a campus class find their voice online, as no one interrupts them. And they don’t run out of time, as the class is always there online.” Rudolph Bell, professor in the Department of History, said he would not teach his course “History and the News” online if he thought it was inefficient. Bell said the online setting allows students to repeat the lecture, watch videos, review the materials and have discussions through blogging every week, which may help prevent procrastination. Despite the benefits, Bell admits that for first-year students, a live setting may be a better way for them to become integrated in the university setting. “In a way, I think [online courses] may be a little easier since I can get the assignments from my dorm room,” said Shani Pleasants, a Mason Gross School of the Arts first-year student. “I think it’ll also be harder because it’ll probably interfere more with the classes I actually have to go to a classroom for.”
GRANT GIVES RESEARCHERS WAY TO REVERSE VITAMIN A DEFICIENCY With Vitamin A deficiency on the rise, a University professor and her colleagues seek to find an improved way to reverse the problem. The deficiency is linked to blindness, impaired immune systems, cancer and bir th defects but is usually reversed through eating vitamin A-rich foods, like carrots, daily, according to a Rutgers Today ar ticle. Loredana Quadro, an assistant professor in the Depar tment of Food Science, told Rutgers Today that ingesting vitamin A-rich foods or supplements should be done on a regular basis in order for it to have an ef fect on the human body.
As a result of the deficiency, about 250,000 to 500,000 children in developing countries go blind, according to the ar ticle. For those who are af fected in developing countries, gaining daily access to vitamin A-rich foods may not always be possible, according to the ar ticle. The researchers intend to create an alternative treatment through engineering bacteria that can live in the human gut for long periods of time to produce beta-carotene, according to the article. Through this strategy, Quadro aims to bring DNA into the bacteria and get the bacteria to
accept the DNA so it can produce a variety of results, according to the ar ticle. “We want to colonize the intestines of mice with these bacteria so that the bacteria will ‘happy’ there and produce beta-carotene, a source of vitamin A,” Quadro said in the ar ticle. Quadro and her colleagues, Daniel Hof fman, Paul Breslin, and Michael Chikindas believe they can fur ther prove their idea with a $100,000 grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation they received to conduct research on the mutated bacteria on mice.
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STATE: Governor thinks
street to maim or kill while they await trial.” Another reform proposed inner cities need more attention is to place nonviolent dr ug of fenders in mandator y treatcontinued from front ment instead of jail. “Experience has shown that The second job Christie will nonviolent dr ug work on during his next two treating years in of fice is to reform the of fenders is two-thirds less expensive than housing them state’s education system. Tenure reform is chief in prison,” Christie said. among Christie’s proposed “Ever yone deser ves a second solutions, which would replace chance, because no life under-per forming teachers is disposable.” For these reforms to be put with those that have at least average ratings. He said to in place, Christie said New determine a teacher’s ef fec- Jerseyans must come together. “The New Jersey comeback tiveness, professional obser vations will be taken into account is not about what happens in along with quantifiable Trenton alone,” he said. “All of you are in this too. Our sucstudent achievement. “[We should take away cesses and failures are your tenure] from those whose rat- successes and failures.” Christie reviewed the successings are unacceptably weak,” he said. “If layof fs are neces- es his administration has sar y, remove the least ef fective achieved thus far, which includes teachers instead of just creating more than 60,000 private sector jobs, he the most said. junior ones.” The business He also pro“The New Jersey environment in posed reform in the state has also the process of comeback is not improved, with authorizing charabout what happens companies estabter schools, with their particular attenin Trenton alone.” lishing presence in the tion paid to failing CHRIS CHRISTIE state, he said. school districts. NJ Governor Bayer put its “We must give Nor th American parents and chilof fice in Morris dren in failing schools an alter native,” he County, Novo Nordisk is established in Middlesex County said. Christie also said this year, and LG Electronics is in the state’s inner cities need Bergen County. “We have been able to more attention. “We need to reclaim our attract new jobs from around inner cities, respond to under- the countr y to New Jersey,” he ser ved regions and engage our said. “Employers are beginning most vulnerable citizens,” to understand that New Jersey is … a great place to work and he said. At a meeting in Union County, raise your family.” The gover nor credits the Newark resident Cassandra Dock asked the governor if the amount state’s successes to Democrats of violence in the city concerned and Republicans in Trenton him like it does its residents, putting their dif ferences aside on some issues to work togethChristie said. “We are creating a place [for er on others. “[A] divided gover nment ever yone] to live the life they want,” he said. “We will can work,” he said. “Democrats and Republicans working help you.” The governor’s help comes together is possible. And in in a bail reform package that fact, it’s necessar y,” In closing, Christie said the would keep of fenders with a histor y of violence in jail until state has to keep striving for the reforms he has proposed. their trial. “Now is the time to put the “This may require a constitutional amendment,” he said. foot down harder on the accel“Consider the factor of danger- erator,” he said. “Now is the ousness … before we release a time to make New Jersey greatviolent person back on the ness a reality again.”
U NIVERSITY DARRELL: Sandwich receives recognition from media continued from front Butler’s pioneering allowed students more variety, and Elnaggar’s desire to give the customer exactly what they want has caused a lasting cultural impact, Elnaggar said. “The grease trucks are a staple. I think they are very important to Rutgers. It brings a lot of joy to a lot of students. Even if you’re not going to eat anything, to just hang out there,” said Veronica Cohen, a School of Arts and Sciences junior. Nicholas Fourniadis, a School of Arts and Sciences first-year student, said the sandwiches are so known around the state that many students were aware of them before attending the University. “I knew about them even before I got here. I loved them back then and still do,” Fourniadis said. With marketing events — such as the five-sandwich eating contest, where participants must consume five fat sandwiches under 45 minutes in exchange for their name on a grease truck — Elnaggar said the notoriety of the “Fat Darrell” and other fat sandwiches have become known state and nationwide. “I’ve gotten calls from around the countr y and get let-
STUDY: Patient numbers to rise to more than 500,000 continued from front strengthens Medicare, according to Healthcare.gov. The repor t, “Dif ferences Among New Jersey Adults Using Doctors, Clinics, and with no Usual Source of Care,” found that clinic users and those with USC are mostly minority and immigrant populations with a large majority being of Hispanic ethnicity. Immigrants in New Jersey are more likely to be uninsured than U.S.-bor n residents, Gaboda said. “Thir ty-four percent of immigrant children are uninsured, and 71 percent of nonelderly adults in the countr y for less than five years lack coverage,” according to the repor t. Hispanic non-citizens have the lowest rate of insurance coverage of all racial groups, Gaboda said. “Asians in New Jersey seem to have more professional jobs [where] employers sponsor par t of the cost of the insurance,” she said. Gaboda said a large percent of immigrant Hispanics living in New Jersey are typically younger, and a significant percentage work jobs that do not provide for the cost of insurance. Despite 2009 dates on the sur vey, Gaboda said the data still applies because New Jersey’s population has not changed substantially since then sur vey was conducted. “We do periodically statewide household sur veys that represent the state’s demographic, since the sur vey was completed in 2009, the state’s demographics have not changed that much,” she said. Whether a person is insured or not is a typical health care community survey question, but the reason of why they are uninsured varies, Gaboda said.
T H E DA I LY TA R G U M ters almost daily,” Butler said. “Someone from Texas called me yesterday just asking me about the trucks and wanted directions to the University.” The five-sandwich eating contest has drawn massive publicity and even “Man vs. Food’s” Adam Richman visited in 2009 in an attempt to put his name on the board, but failed with roughly half a sandwich to go.
“I’m doing the best I can. All I can do is continue to make good sandwiches.” AYMAN ELNAGGAR Grease Truck Owner
“It’s fun and it’s a good marketing tool. It’s the people wanting to be there that makes it sell,” Elnaggar said. Elnaggar and Butler also appeared in a 2004 Maxim article for the best sandwich, as well as, numerous television programs. “They contacted me and told me it was No. 1, so after that, it grew to national popularity,” Butler said. Students agree that the grease trucks are as much a par t of the University as the football program. “I think it’s as much a par t of Rutgers as the football team.
“We don’t ask them specifically of why they are uninsured, but from other studies nationally, some young people think that they are healthy and don’t need it,” she said. “Others think that they are ineligible or are unaware they are eligible.” Gaboda said people are discouraged from signing up for health insurance because those with undocumented people living in their homes. But she said this idea is false. “Clinics in the state ser ve a socioeconomically poorer and sicker population than do doctors’ of fices,” according to the repor t. “Demand for care at clinics is anticipated to increase following implementation of federal health reform.”
“If you don’t know how to pay for your care ... people just forego care overall.” DOROTHY GABODA Associate Director for Data Analysis Center for State Health Policy
Gabriel Gonzales, a 24-yearold construction worker from New Brunswick, said he and his family of two children rely on health clinics as their USC. “Times are hard. My family and I only go for health care when we need it, other wise we give them Dimetapp when they have allergies,” he said. “They go to the clinics for shots when they are really sick. Other wise we use what my mother taught me to treat them.” Gaboda said this is based of f results from Massachusetts and the state’s af fordable health care program. “[People are] getting care at clinics through the Massachusetts care act. [People choose] clinics rather
The food is great and cheap,” said Joseph Slezak, a School of Environmental and Biological Sciences first-year student. But the grease trucks’ fate is still unknown as a committee established in November, led by Department of Transportation Director Jack Molenaar, brought attention to several health, safety and financial concerns the school is looking to correct. The University’s financial support of the grease trucks — security, electricity and grease removal/cleaning — has cost the University $93,467 since 2007, Molenaar said. The University has also considered putting the grease trucks’ location — Lot 8 on the College Avenue campus — up for a public bid to outside vendors, making lot tenants nervous, Elnaggar said. He said there is nothing he can do except to continue what he has been doing for the past 15 years. “I’m doing the best I can. All I can do is continue to make good sandwiches,” he said. More than 100 people are signing a petition stationed outside one of the grease trucks’ serving window, Elnaggar said. “It’s impor tant,” said Ryan Newland, a School of Environmental and Biological Sciences first-year student. “It’s been here a long time. I knew about it even before I was a student. It’s par t of the culture.”
than finding a private doctor,” she said. “People are not saying, ‘I’m buying health insurance and switching to a private doctor.’ We believe that people will go where they continued to go in the past.” In order to serve that growing population of people using clinics, Kathy Grant-Davis, president and CEO of the New Jersey Primary Care Association, plans on opening another 30 FQHC locations in New Jersey, including one in Freehold and Somerset Counties, according to the news website NJ Spotlight. Davis was unable to comment by press time. New Jersey’s 20 FQHCs provide medical care to more than 400,000 patients across 105 sites throughout the state, according to an NJ Spotlight article. The number of patients is expected to rise to more than 500,000 patients when the PPACA expands its Medicaid eligibility and offers subsidized health care coverage to cover residents generating low to moderate incomes, according to NJ Spotlight. The rate of insured adults has not drastically changed, but the economic downturn has caused some to lose medical insurance because of unemployment, Gaboda said. Shelia Wilson, a Highland Park resident, said since she was unemployed she no longer received medical insurance from her employer. She uses NJ Family Care when she needs a doctor. “I have allergies, so I think it’s impor tant to have health care,” she said. “There was one point where I was without it, and it was scar y thinking that if I had a medical emergency, I would be out of luck.” Gaboda said medical insurance is important despite the preconceived notion that younger people tend to be healthier. “If you don’t know how to pay for your care — either private or public — people just forego care overall,” she said.
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CALENDAR JANUARY
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The Daily Targum will be holding a writer’s meeting at 9:30 p.m. in the fourth floor lounge of the Rutgers Student Center on the College Avenue campus. Assignments will be given out and other business will be discussed during the meeting. All those interested are welcome. No experience is necessary. Mindfulness Meditation will be meeting from noon to 1 p.m. at the Rutgers Student Center on the College Avenue campus where students, faculty and staff can reduce stress and be calmer. The event will be hosted by Counseling, ADAP and Psychiatry Services. For more information contact Siobhan Gibbons at (732) 932-7884 or email siobhang@echo.rutgers.edu. The American realist painter and sculptor, Audrey Flack will be the featured artist in The Mary H. Dana Women Artists Series Galleries until June 30. The exhibition is a combination of Flack’s prints, drawings and photographs that highlight her photorealism, but also her roots in classical sculpture. Judith Brodsky and Ferris Olin, directors of the Institute of Women and Arts and curators of the Women Artists Series, curate the exhibition. Flack has also been named the 2011-2012 Estelle Lebowitz Visiting Artistin-Residence at the University. Her work is represented in major museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Guggenheim Museum. The Dana Women Artist Series Galleries are located in the Mabel Smith Douglass Library on Douglass campus. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and weekends by appointment. The galleries and lecture are free and open to the public. For more information visit iwa.rutgers.edu or call (732)-932-3726.
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The Mason Gross School of the Arts is having an art exhibit at 4 p.m. at the Civic Square in downtown New Brunswick. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., extended hours on Wednesday until 6 p.m., and Saturdays from noon to 4 p.m.
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The New Jersey Film Festival Spring 2012 Film Screening, sponsored by the Rutgers Co-op/New Jersey Media Arts Center and the Rutgers University Program in Cinema Studies, starts today with three films. The festival will take place at the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum from 7 to 10 p.m. on the College Avenue campus. General admission fee will be $10 to $9 for students and seniors. The screening of “Calendar Girl” will host in-person director Derek Lindeman and lead actor Jensen Bucher.
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Colleges Against Cancer will kick off Relay for Life at the Rutgers Student Center from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. on the College Avenue campus, where there will be free food and drinks for participants. Students can get into the relay spirit, and join the fight against cancer with the chance to play games and win prizes.
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Rutgers University Programming Association is hosting a Just For Fun indoor ice skating rink at the Douglass Campus Center from 2 to 11 p.m. Students can attend the Winter Wonderland event where there will be ice skating, a hot cocoa bar and winter-themed crafts, while supplies last.
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The Rutgers Energy Institute is sponsoring a morning Café Hour for conversation on energy-related topics. Students, faculty and staff will be attending and are welcome to learn and share ideas. The event will take place from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. in The Cove of the Busch Campus Center where there will be coffee, tea, refreshments and a light breakfast available. There is no fee or reservations needed.
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There will be dancing on the 4,500 square-foot wooden dance floor to Brian Nash at the main gym from 8 to 11:30 p.m. on the College Avenue campus. Music includes chacha, foxtrot, hustle, jive, merengue, polka, quickstep, rumba, samba, salsa/mambo, swing, tango and waltz.
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TA Project & Center for Teaching Advancement & Assessment Research will sponsor a podcasting event from 9:45 to 11:15 a.m. where students can create and do editing of audio content using the free “Audacity” software and how to distribute the files to students as a “podcast” using RSS or iTunes.
To have your event featured on www.dailytargum.com, send University calendar items to university@dailytargum.com.
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U.S. officials to heighten Mexican border control THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SAN DIEGO — The United States Border Patrol is moving to halt a revolving-door policy of sending migrants back to Mexico without any punishment. The agency this month is overhauling its approach on migrants caught illegally crossing the 1,954mile border that the United States shares with Mexico. Years of enormous growth at the federal agency in terms of staff and technology have helped drive down apprehensions of migrants to 40-year lows. The Border Patrol now feels it has enough of a handle to begin imposing more serious consequences on almost everyone it catches from Texas to San Diego. The “Consequence Delivery System” divides border crossers into seven categories, ranging from first-time offenders to people with criminal records. Punishments vary by region, but there is a common thread: simply turning people around after taking their fingerprints is the choice of last resort. Some, including children and the medically ill, will still get a free pass by being turned around at the nearest border crossing, but they will be few and far between. “What we want to be able to do is make that the exception and not necessarily the norm,” Fisher told The Associated Press. Consequences can be severe for detained migrants and expensive to American taxpayers, including felony prosecution or being taken to an unfamiliar border city hundreds of miles away to be sent back to Mexico. One tool used during summers in Arizona involves flying migrants to Mexico City, where they get one-way bus tickets to their hometowns. Another releases them to Mexican authorities for prosecution south of the border. One puts them on buses to return to Mexico in another border city that may be hundreds of miles away. The new tactics are part of the Border Patrol’s new national strategy. The number of agents since 2004 has more than doubled to 21,000. The Border Patrol has blanketed one-third of the border with fences and other physical barriers, and it has spent heavily on cameras, sensors and other gizmos. Major advances in fingerprinting technology have vastly improved intelligence on border-crossers. Border agents made 327,577 apprehensions on the Mexican border in the 2011 fiscal year, down 80 percent from more than 1.6 million in 2000. It was the Border Patrol’s slowest year since 1971. It is a far cry from just a few years ago. Older agents remember being so overmatched that they powerlessly watched migrants cross illegally, minutes after catching them and dropping them off at the nearest border crossing. Border Patrol Chief Mike Fisher, who joined the Border Patrol in 1987, recalls apprehending the same migrant 10 times in his eight-hour shift as a young agent. In the past, agents gave migrants caught in Douglas, Ariz., a bologna sandwich and orange juice before taking them back to Mexico at the same location on the same
afternoon, Fisher said. Now, migrants may spend the night at an immigration detention facility near Phoenix and eventually return to Mexico through Del Rio, Texas — more than 800 miles away. Those migrants are effectively cut off from the smugglers who helped them cross the border, whose typical fees have skyrocketed to between $3,200 and $3,500 and are increasingly demanding payment upfront instead of after crossing, Fisher said. At minimum, they will have to wait longer to try again as they raise money to pay another smuggler. “What used to be hours and days is now being translated into days and weeks,” Fisher said. The new strategy was first introduced a year ago in the office at Tucson, Ariz., the patrol’s busiest corridor for illegal crossings, and is being expanded on a larger scale. Field supervisors ranked consequences on a scale from one to five using 15 different yardsticks, including the length of time since the person was last caught and per-hour cost for processing. The longstanding practice of turning migrants straight around without any punishment, known as “voluntary returns,” ranked least expensive — and least effective. Agents got color-coded, walletsized cards — also made into posters at Border Patrol stations — that tell them what to do with each category of offender. For first-time violators, prosecution is a good choice, with one-way flights to Mexico City also scoring high. For known smugglers, prosecution in Mexico is the top pick. The Border Patrol has introduced many new tools in recent years without much consideration to whether a first-time violator merited different treatment than a repeat crosser. “There really wasn’t much thought other than, ‘Hey, the bus is outside, let’s put the people we just finished processing on the bus and therefore wherever that bus is going, that’s where they go,’” Fisher said. A first-time offender now faces different treatment than one caught two or three times. A fourth-time violator faces other consequences. The number of those who have been apprehended in the Tucson sector has plunged 80 percent since 2000, allowing the Border Patrol to spend more time and money on each of the roughly 260 migrants caught daily. George Allen, an assistant sector chief, said there are 188 seats on four daily buses to border cities in California and Texas. During summers, a daily flight to Mexico City has 146 seats. Only about 10 percent of those apprehended now get “voluntar y returns” in the Tucson sector, down from about 85 percent three years ago, said Rick Barlow, the sector chief. Most of those who are simply turned around are children, justified by the Border Patrol on humanitarian grounds. Fisher acknowledged that the new strategy depends heavily on other agencies. Federal prosecutors must agree to take his cases. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement must have enough beds in its detention facilities.
GETTY IMAGES
Republican nominee Rick Santorum discredits Mitt Romney and his other rivals in an effort to capture the presidential candidacy. Through new TV ads and speeches, he stressed the negatives of his competitors.
Santorum critiques rivals after primary THE ASSOCIATED PRESS AIKEN, S.C. — Rick Santor um yesterday branded Mitt Romney a liberal, said Newt Gingrich’s policy positions have been “all over the place” and laughed that Ron Paul has been running for president “since 1938,” looking to capture the GOP presidential nomination even if takes harsh words for fellow Republicans. Santorum, a long-time footnote in the GOP contest now attracting scr utiny, tried to punch his way to the top of the pack with scathing critiques of his rivals ahead of Saturday’s South Carolina primar y. In campaign speeches and a new TV ad, the former senator from Pennsylvania sharpened his criticism and urged conser vatives to coalesce around one of their own or face Romney as the GOP’s nominee. “He’s got a lot of money, but he doesn’t have the convictions, the authenticity nor the record that is necessar y to win this election,” Santorum told voters about Romney. “Please consolidate.” At the same time, he sought to cast Gingrich, the former House speaker, as an insufficiently conservative option. “Speaker Gingrich is not nearly as conservative as I am on most issues,” Santorum said. “Newt is bold, but he is all over the place,” he said. “Attacking capitalism, suppor ting capitalism. Against global warming, for global warming. We need someone who is bold and consistent.” Santorum, a sometimes acerbic and often sarcastic campaigner, has done little to hide his animosity toward his rivals since he came within eight votes of win-
ning Iowa’s caucuses earlier this month. He even took a shot at the 76-year-old Paul, who bested him New Hampshire and has needled him from afar. “Congressman Paul had been r unning in New Hampshire for president since 1938,” he said. Conser vatives, it seemed, were recognizing their dilemma: Texas Gov. Rick Perr y, Gingrich and Santorum all were vying to emerge the leading alternative to Romney. Thus far, however, they have fractured their support and Romney has won both Iowa’s and New Hampshire’s lead-off contests. “We conser vatives are splitting the vote,” Aiken voter Michele Merritt told Santorum. “Is there not anything that those conser vatives can do to get together for the good of the countr y and tr y to coalesce behind one person that will be able to take on Romney and win? Because I really, really don’t want Romney to get the nomination.” Santorum nodded but stopped short of urging anyone to exit from the race. “I believe everybody has a right to be in this race if they want to be in this race and fight as hard as they want for as long as they want,” he later told reporters in Lexington. “I’m not into political games, or political deals.” Santorum finished a close second in Iowa on a shoestring budget. Fundraising took off after that, and Santorum was finally in a position to spend some of the $3 million he raised that week. In an ad scheduled to start airing today in South Carolina, Santorum likened Romney to President Barack Obama. “Obama suppor ted the Wall Street bailouts. So did Romney.
Obama gave us radical ‘Obamacare’ that was based on ‘Romneycare,’” the ad’s narrator says. “Obama’s a liberal on social issues. Romney once bragged he’s even more liberal than Ted Kennedy on social issues.” The ad then asks: “Why would we ever vote for someone who is just like Obama?” Previewing the criticism, Santor um mocked Romney’s position that the health care overhaul he signed into law in Massachusetts was fine but a national version is unacceptable. “Boy, that’s pretty powerful,” he said. “South Carolina can’t put a candidate up ... who cannot stand up on the most critical issue of the day and draw a contrast,” Santorum said of Romney. Romney’s allies, meanwhile, were airing an ad that says Santorum “even voted to let convicted felons vote.” Santorum complained that the TV spot, while referring to “felons,” shows someone in an orange prison jumpsuit, suggesting that Santorum would allow them to vote while still incarcerated. Santor um has suppor ted voting rights only for those who have ser ved their sentences and been released. He called the ad “one of the cheapest shots ever” and said Romney should tell his allies to back off. “I would never, ever, ever want to be affiliated or associated with anybody doing something for me that I know is blatantly false,” Santorum said. Romney said that “people who have been released from prison are still called felons if they’ve committed felonies.”
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Romney to consider releasing tax returns after debate THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MYR TLE BEACH, S.C. — Mitt Romney’s four remaining challengers for the Republican presidential nomination did their best to knock the frontr unner of f stride in a contentious debate, but the best they could do was to get him to grudgingly agree to consider releasing his tax returns. Romney didn’t bend under heavy rhetorical pressure on the issue of his job-creation record at the private equity firm Bain Capital, nor did he apologize on stage for his evolving views on abortion. The former Massachusetts governor stressed the independence of the super PACs that have been r unning negative ads in his behalf against former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and other rivals, including former Sen. Rick Santorum. Monday night’s debate was as fier y as any of the more than dozen that preceded it. Romney did say that while he might be willing to release his tax returns, he wouldn’t do so until tax filing time in April. And the multimillionaire former businessman didn’t get much gratitude from his rivals for his halting change of hear t. “If there’s nothing there, why is he waiting ‘til April?” Gingrich told reporters. Romney at first sidestepped calls from his rivals to release his records, then acknowledging later that he’d follow the lead of previous presidential candidates. “I have nothing in them that suggests there’s any problem, and I’m happy to do so,” he said. “I sor t of feel like we’re showing a lot of exposure at this point,” he added. Romney, the clear front-runner for the GOP nomination after back-to-back wins in the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primar y, was under fire from
CHRISTIE SIGNS BILL TO LEGALIZE SPORTS BETTING ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie signed a bill into law yesterday legalizing sports betting in the state — but only after a federal ban on such gambling is overturned. The governor signed a bill that had been passed overwhelmingly by both houses of the state legislature. It would legalize betting on professional and collegiate sporting games at the Atlantic City casinos and the state’s four horse tracks. Next up is a court fight to overturn a federal law that makes it illegal to bet on sports in all but four states. If New Jersey prevails and the law is either overturned by the courts or repealed by Congress, it would free all 50 states to offer sports betting. “This is the beginning of the end for the unfair, discriminatory and unwise federal ban on sports betting,” said Sen. Raymond Lesniak, an Elizabeth Democrat who has been the measure’s most vocal proponent. “It has failed to curb the public’s desire to bet on sporting events. Indeed, betting on sports has increased exponentially since the ban passed Congress.” — The Associated Press
Gingrich and fellow GOP rivals Rick Perry, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum in Monday night’s debate as they sought to knock him off stride. The five will meet again in debate in Charleston Thursday night, the last time they will share a stage before Saturday’s South Carolina primary. The first Southern primar y could prove decisive in the volatile contest. Gingrich has virtually conceded that a victory for Romney in South Carolina would assure his nomination as Democratic President Barack Obama’s Republican rival in the fall, and none of the other remaining contenders has challenged that conclusion. That only elevated the stakes for Monday night’s debate. It was feisty from the outset, with the attacks on Romney often couched in anti-Obama rhetoric. “We need to satisfy the country that whoever we nominate has a record that can stand up to Barack Obama in a very effective way,” said Gingrich. The five men on stage also sought to outdo one another in calling for lower taxes. Texas Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, won that competition handily, saying he thought the top personal tax rate should be zero. In South Carolina, a state with a heavy military presence, the tone turned muscular at times. Gingrich drew strong applause when he said, “Andrew Jackson had a pretty clear idea about America’s enemies. Kill them.” Perr y also won favor from the crowd when he said the Obama administration had overreacted in its criticism of the Marines who were videotaped urinating on the corpses of Taliban fighters in Afghanistan. Gingrich and Perry led the assault against Romney’s record at Bain Capital, a private equity
firm that bought companies and sought to remake them into more competitive enterprises, with uneven results. “There was a pattern in some companies ... of leaving them with enormous debt and then within a year or two or three having them go broke,” Gingrich said. “I think that’s something he ought to answer.” Perry referred to a steel mill in Georgetown, S.C. where, he said, “Bain swept in; they picked that company over and a lot of people lost jobs there.” Romney said the steel industry was battered by unfair competition from China. As for other
“Time will tell. But I anticipate that most likely I’m going to get asked to do that in the April time period.” MITT ROMNEY GOP Candidate
firms, he said, “Four of the companies that we invested in ... ended up today having some 120,000 jobs.” And he acknowledged, “Some of the businesses we invested in were not successful and lost jobs.” Perr y was the one who challenged Romney to release his income tax returns. The Texas governor said he has already done so, and Gingrich has said he will do likewise later in the week. “Mitt, we need for you to release your income tax so the people of this country can see how you made your money. ... We cannot fire our nominee in September. We need to know now,” Perry said.
Later, a debate moderator pressed Romney on releasing his tax returns. His response meandered. “If that’s been the tradition, I’m not opposed to doing that,” Romney said. “Time will tell. But I anticipate that most likely I’m going to get asked to do that in the April time period, and I’ll keep that open.” Prodded again, he said, “If I become our nominee ... what’s happened in history is people have released them in about April of the coming year, and that’s probably what I’d do.” April is long after the South Carolina primar y, and the Republican nomination could easily be all but decided by then, following Super Tuesday contests around the country in March. Santorum stayed away from the clash over taxes, instead launching a dispute of his own. He said a campaign group supporting Romney has been attacking him for supporting voter rights for convicted felons, and asked Romney what his position was on the issue. Romney initially ducked a direct answer, preferring to ask Santorum if the ad was accurate. He then said he does not believe convicted violent felons should have the right to vote, even after serving their terms. Santorum instantly said that as governor of Massachusetts, Romney hadn’t made any attempt to change a law that permitted convicted felons to vote while still on parole, a law the former Pennsylvania senator said was more liberal than the one he has been assailed for supporting. Romney replied that as a Republican governor, he was confronted with a legislature that was heavily Democratic and held a different position. He also reminded Santorum that candidates have no control over the campaign groups that have played a pivotal role in the race to date.
“It is inaccurate,” Santorum said of the ad assailing him. “I would go out and say, ‘Stop it, that you’re representing me and you’re representing my campaign. Stop it.’” That issue returned more than an hour later, when Gingrich said he too has faced false attacks from the same group that is criticizing Santor um. He noted that Romney says he lacks sway over the group, “which makes you wonder how much influence he would have if he were president.” Romney said he hoped no group would r un inaccurate ads, and he said the organization backing Gingrich was airing a commercial that is so false that “it’s probably the biggest hoax since Bigfoot.” He called for scuttling the cur rent system of campaign finance laws to permit individuals to donate as much money as they want to the candidates of their choice. Noting that the debate was occurring on Mar tin Luther King Jr. Day, one moderator asked Gingrich if his previous statements about poor children lacking a work ethic were “insulting to all Americans, but particularly to black Americans.” “No,” Gingrich said emphatically, adding his aim was to break dependence on government programs. “I’m going to continue to find ways to help poor people learn how to get a job, learn to get a better job and lear n someday to own the job.” Romney is the leader in the public opinion polls in South Carolina, although his rivals hope the state’s 9.9 percent unemployment rate and the presence of large numbers of socially conser vative evangelical voters will allow one of them to slip by him.
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EDITORIALS
Wealthiest must take responsibility
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ccording to a recent study, two historians found that even under the current tax code, the wealth gap between lowincome and high-income individuals is now higher than it was in ancient Rome. For low- and middle-income individuals, that’s big news. But for many of the wealthiest individuals in the nation, the statistic is irrelevant. That’s because, according to a recent PNC Wealth Management and Social Responsibility survey, many of the wealthiest of Americans do not view themselves as wealthy. While a little more than 70 percent of millionaires side with Warren Buffet’s view — that the rich should pay more in taxes — only 22 percent say that this proposal actually applies to them, according to the survey. This seems strange, given the fact that the top 1 percent of Americans witnessed a 275 percent rise in income between 1979 and 2007. The problem, it seems, is self-perception. The survey shows that the wealthiest people don’t believe that they are actually wealthy. This is either a genuine misconception about their own standing in society or else a clever front to escape much of the criticism that the wealthiest have fallen under as of late. One thing’s for sure, though — if you’re making upwards of $1 million, you’re probably wealthy by the rest of the country’s standards.
Observe proper office conduct G
avin Swiatek, a biochemistry instructor who worked on Cook campus, was taken into custody last week and is now being held on $50,000 bail in Middlesex County Jail. Swiatek was charged with second-degree distribution and fourth-degree possession of child pornography, and, if convicted, faces a maximum 10 years in prison. Swiatek is accused of using a University computer in his Cook campus office to distribute the materials. Under U.S. law, a suspect is innocent until proven guilty. Although Swiatek has yet to be convicted, the incident brings up some serious questions not only about acceptable online etiquette in the workplace, but also about University obligations regarding how to handle such behavior. Along with banning the individual from campus and relieving him from duties, the University has also said that it is considering termination. We hope that if indeed the individual in question is convicted, the University will not hesitate to permanently remove him from his post. A University campus has no room for unprofessional behavior, let alone behavior that is in clear violation of both University and federal policy. Yet Swiatek’s act of bringing his personal life into his professional one is another thing to consider and is probably an act that many of us partake in everyday. Admittedly, Swiatek’s case is an extreme example. Distributing child pornography on your employer’s computer is something that probably does not even enter the minds of most employees. With the advent of the Internet in both the home and workplace, the line between work and play has become increasingly blurred. Having one’s personal email and social outlets like Facebook and Twitter available at the touch of a keypad has, for many, married personal life with professional practice. And for many, being able to hop from a spreadsheet to a Google+ profile can prove to be quite the distraction. Employers need to ask themselves, how much of this behavior should be tolerated? As the Internet enables our social lives to be more easily toted into the office, employers will have to decide to what extent this marriage should be allowed — and, as with everything, there are both hard and soft lines. A little Reddit time at the beginning and end of the workday may cut into one’s daily productivity but is probably harmless. Even your boss finding that risqué Facebook photo your friend uploaded from the party last night may not end in unemployment. And as more and more of us young folk enter the workforce with our cellphones cemented to our hands and our friends’ Facebook profiles committed to memory, employers may just have to deal with the shenanigans. Needless to say, distributing child pornography on your employer’s computer is probably a hard line.
QUOTE OF THE DAY “I used to only get a ‘Fat Cat’ because there were only a few options back then. ... I used to live on ‘Fat Cats.’” Darrell Butler, University alumnus and creator of the ‘Fat Darrell,’ on fat sandwich choices in 1997. STORY ON FRONT
MCT CAMPUS
Embrace thrills of free time
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stumbled into the not a very fitness-minded Brett Hall seminar man, and so a University room half-asleep at Recreation Fitness Flex roughly 9:30 a.m. yesterPass does not seem like the day. I was expecting a right choice for me. three-hour seminar. What I After much thoughtful got instead was the privideliberation — read: hours lege of watching “Amelie,” passed in front of the televiMATTHEW KOSINSKI which is a great film, and sion this winter break I’m not just saying that watching reruns of “30 because it gave me two hours to zone-out rather than Rock” on Netflix — I realized what the problem was. take notes on Jungian psychology. Aside: it’s OK, I’m See, I had been too active in the planning of the not a bad student. I’ve seen the movie before. So remainder of my undergraduate career. I was giving begins my last semester here at the University. It’s it too much of the old college try — every pun fitting, if you ask me. After three-and-a-half academintended. This is my first semester off, so to speak. ic years of slaving over a room-temperature laptop Why the heck am I trying to make it into the same keyboard, laboriously crafting arguments about the old rigid routine every one of its predecessors had sorts of things that only the slimmest slivers of the been? This semester is my time to be selfish and world population are interested in arguing about — goofy, to finally shirk a large portion of my responsample paper topics include “Guilt and Redemption sibilities with little-to-no-consequences, to kick Schema in Christopher Marlowe’s ‘Doctor Faustus’” around in basements while upping the proverbial — I get to straight-up coast out of here. Seriously. I “punx,” cruise the streets of New Brunswick for have 119 credits. Both my major and parks, pizzas and bars, getting my minor are complete. What am I myself into all sorts of admittedly even doing here? “I fully believe that tame shenanigans. What I’m doing here is catching Because, all things considered, every college up on all the awesome things I’ve New Brunswick is a really great city. missed over the years because of a student needs at least It gets a bad reputation among a lot hefty workload. Now, I know what of students, many of whom seem to one semester off.” you’re thinking: “But Matt, you’re an view it as a necessary evil, good only English major? Don’t you guys just for providing the University with smoke cigarettes outside of Murray physical space to occupy. But there Hall and read fiction? How much of your time could is so much more to this place than that. Maybe I that possibly take up?” The answer is, “a lot,” espeonly feel that way because I have an unusually cially when, like me, you also have a semi-full-time strong connection to this city. I was born here, my job here at The Daily Targum. I’ve spent nearly all mother was born and raised here, and my maternal of my time at this fine University writhing under the grandparents were born and raised here. Fun fact: I compounded weight of my work and school obligaonce played beer pong in the basement of my grandtions. Now, as I ease out of my position as opinions father’s childhood home, which is these days occueditor — you will all, of course, miss me not at all — pied by students. The police ended up busting that and fulfill all of my requirements save for one pesky party, and it was an altogether surreal experience, little remaining credit, I find myself staring down traipsing drunkenly and dejectedly from the house the barrel of an unfamiliar foe — free time. where my grandfather was raised. Faced with this formidable opponent, I find But, honestly, I don’t think my love of New myself wondering how exactly I am going to fill in all Brunswick is solely the result of my familial history. of these gaps in my schedule. In theory, there is a lot The city can stand up on its own. There’s more to that I want to do. In practice, I find myself struggling the Hub City than off-campus parties. to define what those things are. I could, like many a The point of all of this, if you’ll allow me a brief bit 22-year-old male, spend my days perusing the of moralizing, is that I fully believe that every college Internet for memes, music and pictures of cats. But, student needs at least one semester off — one really, how much time can one man spend on semester in which they are totally selfish and largely Tumblr before going insane? Another aside: I recogfree of responsibility. People often say that college is nize that I have a reputation as the office’s resident a time of great personal growth. In order for that “hipster.” The admission that I maintain a Tumblr piece of received wisdom to be true, we have to make account will do nothing to dissuade my coworkers sure that we don’t focus all of our efforts on scholasfrom using this tag. I could catch up on all the leisure tic pursuits. Don’t get me wrong — your education is reading I’ve had to sacrifice in favor of coursea great and important thing. But so is finding out who required texts, but as attractive as utter literary hermakes the best falafel in the city, in a strange way. mitage sounds on paper, in reality it’s probably bad for my mental health. Some of my coworkers, faced Matthew Kosinski is a School of Arts and with a similar conundrum, have their own fabulous Sciences senior majoring in English with a minor in ideas about what to do. One soon-to-be-former editor cultural anthropology. He is the opinions editor of will be attending “all the Zumba things ever.” I am The Daily Targum.
Frontlines
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O PINIONS
T H E DA I LY TA R G U M
Daily review: laurels and darts
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n today’s world, it’s easy to get lost among the hubbub of industry, urban living and crowded suburbs. Such sterile and synthetic environments may sometimes make us forget that our communities and activities do have an impact on the environment around us. “If we’re so intellectual, then how are we destroying our planet?” asked Jane Goodall on Monday night at the State Theatre in New Brunswick during a SmartTalk Connected Conversation. For years, Goodall has promoted ecological awareness with her work as a primatologist and anthropologist, echoing these sentiments of protection and preservation. “It’s our only planet,” Goodall added. In 2005, Goodall received an honorary degree from the University, and to add to that, we give her a laurel. With climate change, air pollution and other environmental abuses making headlines daily, it’s important that individuals like Goodall strive to raise this kind of awareness. *
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A hot topic of conversation among followers of the GOP primaries these days is Mitt Romney’s tax returns. People are calling for the candidate to release this information to the public as a means of pointing to a perceived elitism in Romney. In an effort to shift attention away from Romney’s tax information, Fox News Correspondent Ed Henry began calling for President Barack Obama to release his college transcripts at a White House press briefing yesterday. How Obama’s transcripts are pertinent to Romney’s tax information is, frankly, beyond us. Henry’s move is more in line with the “birthers,” who dramatized the issues associated with Obama’s birth certificate, than it is with the various people who want to see Romney’s tax returns. As White House Press Secretary Jay Carney noted at the briefing, “The tradition of releasing income tax records for serious potential nominees, and nominees of the two parties is well established.” College transcripts, on the other hand, are not traditionally part of the presidential race. We give Henry a dart for attempting to make an issue out of something relatively innocuous.
COMMENT OF THE DAY “Anyone can be a passive participant in society, perhaps until it might be to the detriment of someone’s life. Not ‘until someone’s feelings might get hurt.’” User “GP” in response to the Dec. 13 letter, “English Department fails to address racism”
VOICE COMMENTS ONLINE AT DAILYTARGUM.COM We believe the comment system should be used to promote thoughtful discussion between readers in response to the various articles, letters, columns and editorials published on the site. The Targum's system requires users to log in, and an editor must approve comments before they are posted. We believe this anonymity encourages readers to leave comments that do not positively contribute to an intellectual discussion of the articles and opinions pieces published. The Targum does not condone these sorts of personal attacks on anyone. We think the best way to prevent the continued spread of hateful language is to more closely oversee the comment process.
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Realize value of medical careers Letter MAHESH YARAGATTI
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alking through the halls of the prestigious Robert Wood Johnson Medical School with my collegiate cap askew, I always thought of medicine metaphorically — as a sacred field ruled by Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine, holding his symbolic rod with its coiled serpent. My view of medicine and the profession has changed a lot since college. The medical field has really become vast and specialized with the emergence of M.D./Ph.D.s, M.D./M.B.A.s, M.D./J.D.s, etc. exploring new frontiers. There has also been an influx of another breed of clinicians known as D.O.s, or Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine. They are equivalent to medical doctors in hospitals, but they have their own philosophy, schools and training programs to make things even more complicated and confusing. Until recently, there have been schools sprouting of fshore with super-high-throughput curriculums that of fer a medical degree in just a little more than 36 months. These schools emphasize self-study and have redefined medicine as the art and science of standardized test-taking. On top of that, there are schools of fering
medical degrees through online learning, which is possible in theor y but makes you wonder if medicine should be learned that way. Even if medical school was that systematic, it is still a long journey from pre-medicine to post-residency — and fiercely competitive at every step. The dogma in the medical world is that it’s not where you’ve been, but where you were last. And where you were last will probably dictate where you will go next. So in essence, there is no easy way or fast track to success. A degree from any school will carry a perceived value based on factors simply out of one’s control. But perhaps a new school of thought to consider is that the hardships, the overcoming of challenges and the paths we each take toward that degree have their own unique value and underlie their true meanings. So in the field of medicine — where success is primarily measured with board examinations and a degree’s perceived value — the overall journey one has taken from ever ything up to that point becomes only that much more significant. In the long run, a degree represents an achievement, whereas your journey will define your character. Mahesh Yaragatti is a Rutgers College alumnus, Class of 2004.
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Horoscopes / LINDA C. BLACK
Pearls Before Swine
J A N UA RY 1 8 , 2 0 1 2
STEPHAN PASTIS
Today's Birthday (01/18/12). Take some birthday time to think over your next year: where to travel? What to learn? Who to study with? What projects to develop? Which market to tap? Choose partners and playmates for skills and fun. What difference would you love to make? To get the advantage, check the day's rating: 10 is the easiest day, 0 the most challenging. Aries (March 21-April 19) — Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) — Today is a 9 — Productivity is Today is an 8 — All of a sudden, yours, but your wanderlust may be things start making sense. acting up. Some dream from the There's plenty of work, and past could come calling, and what more coming. Extra effort was stuck before now flows easily. makes a difference. A surprise Taurus (April 20-May 20) — boosts self-esteem. Today is an 8 — A congratulatoScorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) — ry note arrives. Add it to the Today is a 9 — There's more positive testimonials on your money to be made, if you're willwebsite. Go over the financials, ing to work. Stick to the budget, too. Paint a persuasive picture of and it'll be easier to make houseyour goals. hold changes soon. A loved one Gemini (May 21-June 21) — has a brilliant idea. Today is a 7 — Lively discussions Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) — ensue. Seemingly closed doors Today is a 7 — Enjoy the next two now open. Hold off on travel days in the limelight. Use your just now. A caring soul is there extra self-confidence to accomto help with a big decision. plish things that stopped you Cancer (June 22-July 22) — before. The outcome's fantastic. Today is an 8 — Dig into a big Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) — job, and get lost in creative Today is an 8 — Don't sweat the effort. Put together the budget, small stuff; there are plenty of big and your skills with penny-pinch- dreams to focus on. Keep your eye ing are appreciated. Innovation on the ball; be the ball; do whatevsaves time. er it takes to get past limitations. Leo (July 23-Aug. 22) — Today Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) — is a 7 — Are there any jobs that Today is an 8 — Others are payneed to be done first? Mop up ing attention to your moves. messes before you play. A loved Don't be afraid to serve as an one encourages you to take on a inspiration. There's much to challenge that inspires. It could learn, but also much to teach. cost extra. Build on solid ground. Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) — Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — Today is an 8 — Get into a Today is an 8 — Service to othhomebody phase for the next ers brings your personal growth few days. Start a project, clean to the next level. Avoid distracclosets or just laze around. Foltions that keep you from comlow another's suggestion for a pleting your tasks. It's satisfying. pleasant surprise. Embrace change. © 2011, TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES INC.
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16
S PORTS
J A N UA RY 1 8 , 2 0 1 2
JOHNNIES: Stringer’s shuffling fails to spark Knights continued from back Stringer’s constant substituting is typically an attempt to get ever yone involved. It was an attempt at finding a group last night that could sustain a lead. St. John’s quickly erased Rutgers’ 6-point halftime lead and continued to force turnovers, prompting five lead changes in six minutes. The run left Stringer on the bench, shaking her head in disbelief. Possibly tr ying to send a message to the rest over her team, Stringer brought in walk-on Jaymee Tucker only three minutes into the second half. “I was hoping Jaymee would demonstrate it,” Stringer said.
It did not work. St. John’s kept up the pressure and the Knights kept sliding, collecting seven fouls in less than nine minutes. Following the seventh foul, Stringer opted for her star ting five in hopes of recapturing a comfor table lead. But the team continued to turn the ball over while forcing none of its own. In addition, it continued to foul the Johnnies while rarely earning trips to the charity stripe. St. John’s finished 26-for-32 from the line while Rutgers attempted only 10 free throws as a team. Rutgers’ main issue defensively was containing junior guards Eugenia McPherson, Nadirah McKenith and Shenneika Smith. McPherson led the team with 17 points — 11 from the line — McKenith finished with 15 points and Smith added 14 of her own.
“There was nothing alarmingly dif ferent,” Stringer said. “The [St. John’s] guards did a nice job.” Rutgers had only two bright spots: Oliver and Rushdan. Oliver totaled 14 points and five rebounds in 38 minutes of play while Rushdan finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists. The Knights made a run at the end of the game, but they fell short. As the clock ticked down, the Knights pulled within one possession, but an of f-balance 3-pointer from Sykes with 10 seconds left bounced out. Now the Knights have to wait until Feb. 12 for a rematch when St. John’s visits the Louis Brown Athletic Center. “We didn’t redeem ourselves until the end,” Sykes said, “but by then, it was too late.”
T H E DA I LY TA R G U M
JOVELLE ABBEY TAMAYO / SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER / FILE PHOTO
Junior forward Monique Oliver finished second on the team in scoring last night, totaling 14 points on 7-of-12 shooting.
JOVELLE ABBEY TAMAYO / SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Freshman point guard Jerome Seagears and Notre Dame point guard Eric Atkins jostle for position Monday night in a Rutgers win. Seagears and Atkins, a junior, played AAU basketball together.
FOES: Seagears develops value for basketball for Rice, RU continued from back The results back up Car ter’s suppor t for his rookie teammate. Seagears leads Rutgers in assists per game at 2.3 while turning the ball over 1.5 times. He has 17 less giveaways than Carter and 14 fewer than Myles Mack, his fellow freshman backcourt mate. “I definitely say I’ve grown as a person, just knowing to be more poised and be more humble and let the game come to me,” Seagears said. “Be patient and things open up more.”
Still, the results are modest for the Knights in conference play. Rutgers ranks 15th in Big East games with 11.8 assists per contest. Only freshman-loaded St. John’s earns less helpers per game with 11.5. But the Knights’ victor y against Notre Dame might be a turning point after they totaled 13 assists, 10 in the first half. “Every coach is an assist guy,” Rice said. “Getting the ball inside helped our guards with our movement. It collapsed the defense, and we were free to move a little bit easier. It seemed a lot easier than it did against West Virginia [in an 84-60 loss].” Seagears was a main facilitator, playing against a pair of former teammates he used to defer to. But
Atkins and Grant both enjoyed luxuries Seagears never did. Atkins looked to former Irish point guard Ben Hansbrough last year as he adjusted to a starting role. Grant is part of a family that produced two NBA players, a former Clemson standout and Syracuse signee. But Rice points to Seagears’ assist-to-turnover ratio as a sign of his growth. For Seagears, it is the nightly grind that is basketball in the Big East. “With playing in this league, every night you have to come to play or you get sent home early,” Seagears said. “It’s a matter of time, being able to adjust to the speed of the game. But I think now we’re coming together as a unit and playing better as a team.”
S P O RT S
T H E DA I LY TA R G U M
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17
RU shines on beam in defeat BY VINNIE MANCUSO CORRESPONDENT
The Rutgers gymnastics team opened its season knowing two things about itself. First, it has a lot to live up GYMNASTICS to, with RUTGERS 191.650 l a s t year’s W. VA. 193.425 t e a m notching the most single-season wins in program history. Second, it is in a time of transition with long-time head coach Crystal Chollet-Norton stepping down after last season. Former assistant coach Dan Levine replaced her. The Scarlet Knights find themselves off to a rocky start, dropping their first two meets of the year. The Knights took to the road for the first time last weekend to take on East Atlantic Gymnastics League opponent West Virginia, falling to the Mountaineers, 193.425-191.650. But Levine saw only improvement in the defeat, which he asks from his team all along. “What we are really looking for is to keep showing improvement, keep adding to that overall performance,” Levine said. “We will be constantly looking to keep making positive steps forward with each meet.” The Knights’ performance on the balance beam was a bright spot. Despite a slow start to the meet, the team ended strong, landing all six of its beam performances. “I think we did pretty good this week. We had a slow start but a great ending on beam,” said sophomore Luisa Leal. “We really did awesome on beam, going six-forsix — that’s a record for us. We showed a lot of improvement this week, so we are good. We are on the right track.” Leal led the team throughout the meet, taking the meet allaround title for the second week in a row with a score of 38.850. Her uneven bar score of 9.825 tied for best in the standout’s young career. Junior Danielle D’Elia and sophomore Alexis Gunzelman closely followed her. The pair notched scores of 9.650 and 9.625, respectively. “It’s the second week in a row that our top three came out [Nos.] 1, 2 and 3 with the three highest scores [on bars],” Levine said. “We are really working on bringing up those other three scores and looking for that to become one of our strengths as the year goes on.” The Knights look to the West Virginia meet as a marked improvement from their first matchup of the year, which New Hampshire won, 191.050-189.575, at the Livingston Gym. “We really went out there and put on a better and stronger showing than we did [against New Hampshire],” Levine said.” Levine, who saw his team struggle with falls on the beam against New Hampshire, finds hope after it landed a perfect sixfor-six only a few days later in Morgantown, W. Va. “We have put a lot of time and effort into doing a lot of lock meets in the gym, just working on confidence and showing off the stuff we have,” he said. “We have a great game here, and we really want to be able to go out there and show it week in and week out.”
ENRICO CABREDO / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Senior 141-pounder Billy Ashnault wrestles Brown’s Zack Tannenbaum in a Jan. 6 dual meet at the College Avenue Gym. Ashnault won by a 15-2 major decision, then pinned Harvard’s Patrick Hogan later that night to start a seven-match winning streak.
FOCUS: Ashnault extends streak to seven matches in Va. continued from back Ashnault lost to Old Dominion’s Justin LaValle in a dual meet early in the season when he started erratically, but he beat LaValle in a Virginia Dual rematch, part of a seven-match winning streak for the South Plainfield native. Of the seven wins, two came via pinfall and three were major decisions. “This is why I redshirted,” Ashnault said, “to feel this good when I’m wrestling.” Now Goodale wants that good feeling to spread
throughout the lineup. Corey Jantzen, who is now Rutgers went winless at heavy- ranked seventh, in a dual meet at weight and 165 pounds without the College Avenue Gym. Winston, and took one The loss followed a of four matches at 157 second-place finish at pounds in Hampton, Va. the Midlands “Nobody outside of Championships — the this program is really closest thing to the going to care if you win NCAA Tournament this or lose,” Goodale said. early in the season. “Maybe your mommy, Mason won four maybe your close matches, including a friends, but that’s it. No semifinal bout with one’s going to feel Oklahoma’s eighthSCOTT sorry for you, so find a ranked Nick Lester WINSTON way to win.” before losing to former Junior 149-pounder Purdue wrestler and Mario Mason found a way in the Notre Dame College wrestling two matches he wrestled in coach Jake Patacsil in the finals. Virginia, but the nation’s fifth“It would be great to be a ranked wrestler lost to Harvard’s Midlands champ, but it doesn’t
hurt him,” Goodale said of Mason. “The bottom line is he hasn’t wrestled well since then. We have to get him back on track.” For some that means continuing to wrestle — but for most, it means rest. “You can’t make it important in January,” Goodale said. “As much as it stinks, as much as we want to win duals, you have to think of down the road.”
KNIGHT
NOTE:
Goodale welcomed Justis Flamio, a Navy transfer, into the program. The 133-pounder from Mahopac, N.Y., will redshirt this semester, then compete as a redshirt sophomore next season.
S P O RT S
T H E DA I LY TA R G U M
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19
Johnnies’ tempo proves too much for Knights BY JOSH BAKAN CORRESPONDENT
NEW YORK — The Rutgers women’s basketball team has been a well-oiled conundrum all season. T h e Scarlet KNIGHT Knights NOTEBOOK are a team that continues to live and die by head coach C. Vivian Stringer’s 55-press, but they aren’t afraid to pick up the tempo when a fast-break oppor tunity arises.
St. John’s spent most of the time r unning the cour t yesterday at Car nesecca Arena though. The Red Storm’s three fastbreak baskets and the not-sohigh score of their 62-57 win do not fully display the ef fectiveness of their high-motion of fense, but the free-throw numbers do. St. John’s attempted 32 free throws to Rutgers’ 10, and the Johnnies capitalized by sinking 26-of-32. “We were playing them like they were shooting, but they ended up driving on us,” said
NELSON MORALES / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER / FILE PHOTO
Freshman Betnijah Laney led all bench players with 23 minutes against St. John’s, scoring seven points in a losing effort.
senior point guard Khadijah Rushdan. “And they ended up at the free-throw line too many times.” Leading scorer Eugenia McPherson carried the torch for St. John’s at the line, sinking 11-of-13. The junior guard’s 7-for-8 free throw shooting in the first half also erased Rutgers’ early 15-6 lead, which steadily became a 15-15 tie.
APRIL SYKES
FAILED
TO
put a point on the board last year against St. John’s and her per formance yesterday was reminiscent of such struggles. The senior forward quickly broke the 1,000-point mark for her career on the first Knights possession, but Sykes left the court only a few possessions later. Sykes exercised full energy by diving for a loose ball, but could barely walk when she hobbled off the floor only 90 seconds into the game. Freshman Betnijah Laney took over for Sykes two minutes into the game and stayed on the court for 13 minutes in the first half. Sykes played only eight minutes in the first half, but she was forced on the court for 18 minutes in the second half because of Laney’s foul trouble. The for ward str uggled, sinking only one basket in her 6-point per formance. Sykes’s injur y and Laney’s four th foul six minutes into the second half forced some creative thinking out of Stringer, one of which included using senior guard Jaymee Tucker for some of her first non-blowout minutes. “If we were doing what we needed to do when we needed to do that, we would not have
JOVELLE ABBEY TAMAYO / SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER / FILE PHOTO
Senior forward April Sykes scored only 6 points last night, but her first basket gave her 1,000 points for her Rutgers career. had to do that,” Stringer said. “I needed her in to do what we needed to do, but Jaymee fouled in 30 seconds.”
ONLY NO. 3 NOTRE DAME and No. 5 Connecticut stand above Rutgers in the national rankings among Big East teams, and the idea of Rutgers leaping above them in the rankings at some point this season is a feasible idea. But toppling these two teams in turnover margin is more of an uphill battle.
The Irish and the Huskies doubled the Knights’ turnover margin, which was 4.00 entering St. John’s, but the Knights decreased that number by turning it over more than their opponent, which has not been uncommon this season. The Knights played into the Red Storm’s game and turned it over 21 times as compared to nine St. John’s turnovers. “You can’t have 21 turnovers and expect to win the game,” Stringer said.
Rutgers record remains unblemished with win BY BRADLY DERECHAILO STAFF WRITER
The arrival of the second semester signals the beginning of classes and a new start for students as SWIMMING & DIVING t h e y RUTGERS 155 r e t u r n to camBUCKNELL 83 pus. For t h e Rutgers swimming and diving team, it marks the chance to continue its quest to finish with a perfect season. The Scarlet Knights started off on the right track, defeating host Bucknell, 155-83, on Sunday to move to 7-0 on the season. Head coach Phil Spiniello was excited to see the team return to the pool after a long layoff from competitive action. “It was great to get back up on the boards and blocks to race,” Spiniello said. “We’re now refocusing our mission here over the next 30 days before we get into the Big East Championship meets. I was really happy with the way we swam and dove.” Senior Jacquelyn Ward finished first in two events. In the 400-yard individual medley, she touched the wall first with a final time of 4:24.56. Her finish capped a sweep for the Knights in the event, as senior Trisha Averill took second and junior Taylor Zafir finished third. Ward also took home first in the 200-yard butterfly. The cap-
tain enjoyed her performance as well as the rest of the team’s showing in the pool. “It was nice getting back on the block and being able to race again,” Ward said. Sophomore Mary Moser also turned in a strong day as she finished with two first-place finishes. The young swimmer completed both the 100- and 200-yard freestyle events and also aided in the 200yard medley relay victory for the Knights. Averill, senior Brianne Lindblad and junior Taylor Curado also assisted in the team win. Lindblad captured the 200yard backstroke, Curado won the 50-yard freestyle and sophomore Chelsea Rolin went home with a victory in the 500-yard freestyle. In all, the Knights came away with wins in 10 of the 11 swimming events. Spiniello credits the hard work his team put in over break as a reason why it left with an overwhelming victory against the Bison, who left the weekend with a 4-4 record entering their next meet at Lehigh. “The girls came off a two-anda-half week training camp [over break] and trained real hard,” Spiniello said. “To come into this meet and get a win was a success for us.” In diving action, the Knights swept both the 3- and 1-meter events and took seven of eight top finishing spots. Sophomore Nicole Scott clinched first place in both
events. In the 1-meter dive, she finished with a score of 283.15, and she took home gold with a 290.60 score in the 3-meter event. Junior Katie Kearney, sophomore Valentina Gordon and freshman Nicole Honey all contributed points toward the team’s victory. “The divers were outstanding,” Spiniello said. “We took the one through four spots in the 1meter event, which was great to see — just an awesome job from the divers.” With a strong showing in its first meet since late December, Spiniello knows the road toward a perfect season remains a challenge for his team as it inches toward February’s Big East Championships. “Our next meets against James Madison and Richmond are going to be real tough,” Spiniello said. “It is going to be a test for our program to go into those away meets on a road trip like that and step up against that competition, but I think our women are ready for the challenge.” The Knights take on both schools on consecutive days starting Friday against James Madison. They compete Saturday against Richmond to complete their weekend doubleheader. Ward believes the team is ready for the remaining meets and is confident going forward. “We have three meets left before [the Big East Championships],” Ward said. “We’re on a roll.”
YEE ZHSIN BOON / FILE PHOTO
Sophomore diver Nicole Scott took first place Jan. 15 against Bucknell in Lewisburg, Pa., in both the 1- and 3-meter dives.
T H E D A I LY TA R G U M
SPORTS
PA G E 2 0
J A N UA RY 1 8 , 2 0 1 2
Podium focus shows through at Va. Duals BY STEVEN MILLER SPORTS EDITOR
As much as head wrestling coach Scott Goodale wants to win ever y dual meet, he recognizes this year’s squad is not exactly built for that type WRESTLING of competition. With a lack of depth, the season’s focus is instead on individual All-Americans, which meant there was still plenty to take away from a fifth-place finish last weekend at the Virginia Duals for the 20th-ranked Scarlet Knights. “It’s great for notoriety and it’s great for the program if you do well, but they’re dual meets,” Goodale said. “As much as I wanted to do well, we had guys injured and banged up, and that goes back to the philosophy we had coming into this year: We have to keep them healthy.” That meant resting 197-pounder Dan Rinaldi for all but one match, even though he was medically cleared from a concussion on the second day of competition. It meant there was no way 10th-ranked 165-pounder Scott Winston would find himself near a mat with some soreness in his shoulder, which he dislocated during a match Jan. 6 against Harvard, only to record a pin moments later. And it meant a welcomed return for 125pounder Joey Langel. The junior, who underwent offseason shoulder surgery, wrestled two matches in Virginia, winning one by pinfall and beating North Dakota State’s ranked Trent Sprenkle, 9-6, in the other. “Joey just brings a certain spark. It’s crazy, crazy,” Goodale said. “I had no problem with him wrestling North Dakota State and a nationally-ranked kid. He just messed around, funked around, played with him. That’s Joey Langel.” Goodale also saw the Billy Ashnault he expected from the start of the season, when the 141-pounder returned from a redshirt year to wrestle his senior season.
SEE FOCUS ON PAGE 17
ENRICO CABREDO / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER / FILE PHOTO
Senior guard Khadijah Rushdan led Rutgers’ offensive effort last night at Carnesecca Arena, scoring a team-high 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting in a 62-57 loss. Rushdan dished out six assists, but turned the ball over five times.
Johnnies beat RU at own game in Queens BY JOEY GREGORY STAFF WRITER
NEW YORK — Histor y was not in favor of the Rutgers women’s basketball team last night against St. John’s at Carnesecca Arena. WOMEN’S BASKETBALL In the last two meetings with the RUTGERS 57 Johnnies, the ST. JOHN’S 62 Scarlet Knights were winless. To find a Knight victor y, one would have to look back to 2009, when the current players had little or no college experience. In an ef for t to end the streak, senior guard April Sykes wasted no time reaching the milestone of 1,000 career
points. She entered the game just 1 point shy of the mark and passed it on the game’s opening possession. But that was as good as it would get for the Knights, who fell to St. John’s, 62-57. St. John’s (12-7, 4-2) kept the game close by doing its best impersonation of No. 7 Rutgers (15-3, 4-1). The Red Storm pressed on most possessions, forced turnovers and tried to work the ball inside. They generated more giveaways and drew more fouls than the Knights, which kept them in the game. “If you look at the makeup of both of us, we’re ver y similar,” said St. John’s head coach Kim Barnes Arico. “We forced
them into a lot of turnovers and got into the lane. Obviously, that really helped us win the game.” One thing the Johnnies could not replicate was Rutgers’ depth. While Rutgers head coach C. Vivian Stringer followed her usual formula of using the majority of her bench, Barnes Arico did not have that luxury. Four Red Storm players played 18 out of 20 first half minutes, while only senior guard Khadijah Rushdan and junior center Monique Oliver reached that mark for the Knights. But Rutgers’ depth was not the factor it normally is.
SEE JOHNNIES ON PAGE 16
Seagears faces familiar foes in Notre Dame backcourt BY TYLER BARTO ASSOCIATE SPORTS EDITOR
For one night, Piscataway felt more like home to Jerome Seagears than his native Silver Spring, Md. Because when the Rutgers basketMEN’S BASKETBALL ball team took on visiting Notre Dame on Monday, a pair of former AAU teammates stood across from him. Irish junior point guard Eric Atkins and redshirt freshman guard Jerian Grant, both Maryland natives, took the Louis Brown Athletic Center floor opposite Seagears for the first time. “When [Grant] was on the line, I told him, ‘Miss these like you did in practice all the time back in 14-and-under [leagues],’” Seagears said. Seagears teamed up with Grant on Team Takeover, a Nor th Carolina-based AAU program, when the two were young teenagers. The Scarlet Knights’ star ting point guard moved on years later to D.C. Assault, based out of Washington, D.C., sharing backcour t duties with Atkins in the process.
Both live a half-hour drive from Seagears. The Beltway trio combined for 36 points at the RAC, but Seagears’ Knights came away with a 65-58 victory, their second consecutive win against the Irish at home. Seagears tied for the team lead in assists, a familiar outcome for the 6-foot-1 guard. But his poise was not always Seagears’ redeeming quality, said head coach Mike Rice. “To have his growth to what he did [Monday] is actually a calming influence,” Rice said of Seagears. “And I can’t believe I’m saying that, because he was completely out of his mind in high school.” Rice recalled watching tape of Seagears hoisting up 32 shots a game for Flora MacDonald Academy (N.C.) and playing with reckless abandon. Seagears was in “complete attack mode,” Rice said, and rarely slowed down. Rice’s findings became Rutgers lore. “From what Coach Rice said, Jerome just did whatever he wanted,” said freshman guard Eli Carter. “The college game is coming a lot easier to him [now]. He’s getting the feel of it.”
SEE FOES ON PAGE 16
JOVELLE ABBEY TAMAYO / SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Freshman point guard Jerome Seagears drives past Notre Dame forward Jack Cooley on Monday night at the Louis Brown Athletic Center. Seagears scored 10 points.