The Daily Targum 2012-03-02

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FRIDAY MARCH 2, 2012

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The Rutgers men’s basketball team rallied from a 19-point deficit last night against Villanova,but fell short in a 77-71 loss at the Louis Brown Athletic Center.

Campus groups work to build awareness of causes “We call it ‘hate week’ because it is a week dedicated to hating Israel, an ally to the United States and a countr y that holds the same democratic values,” said Mark, a School of Ar ts and Sciences junior. “To call it apar theid is dishonest to the histor y of South Africa.”

The eighth annual IAW was from Feb. 26 to March 3 in the United States, according to the IAW website.

“Israeli Apar theid Week is an international weeklong event bringing awareness to the state of the apar theid nature of Israel and it’s illegal occupation of Palestine,” said Rand Jitan, BAKA secretar y.

Jitan, a School of Ar ts and Sciences junior, said BAKA suppor ts the global movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) for

BY WASEEM MAINUDDIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The Rutgers Hillel and BAKA: Students United for Middle Eastern Justice tabled yesterday on the steps of Brower Commons on the College Avenue campus in response to the ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict in the Middle East. Both groups handed out literature and brochures about their group’s views on justice and peace.

At the tabling demonstrations, BAKA put up a wall on the steps of Brower Commons to symbolize the “apar theid wall” being built to separate Israel from West Bank.

Instead of referring to the event as par t of Israeli Apar theid Week, Raf fi Mark, the Rutgers Hillel Israel Chair referred to the week as “hate week.”

SEE GROUPS ON PAGE 5

NELSON MORALES / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

BAKA: Students United for Middle Eastern Justice hold a table yesterday on the College Avenue campus.

Alongside Rutgers Hillel, the groups offered information on their respective views of justice and peace.

RUSA holds student loan teach-in event

RUPD officer, U. representive testify at trial

BY ADAM UZIALKO CORRESPONDENT

BY ANASTASIA MILLICKER NEWS EDITOR

The identity of M.B., the man Tyler Clementi shared a sexual encounter with before committing suicide, remained a myster y as the fifth day of the Dharun Ravi trial came to a close yesterday at the Middlesex County Cour thouse.

Jurors heard testimonies from four additional witnesses, including a Rutgers University Police Depar tment of ficer called on Sept. 22 for a “welfare, well-being” visit to Clementi’s Davidson Hall C room on Busch campus, Ravi’s former Ultimate Frisbee team captain, a University housing representative and one of Ravi’s childhood friends.

SEE TRIAL ON PAGE 5

INDEX UNIVERSITY The Ahlul-Bayt Students’ Assocation holds a discussion with hopes to correct misconceptions of Shia Muslims.

OPINIONS A new vocal pattern called “vocal fry” has crept into the coversations of college students. See if we give it a laurel or a dart.

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ENRICO CABREDO / ASSOCAITE PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Dharun Ravi, right, and his attorney, Philip Nettle, walk into the Middlesex County Courtroom through the Patterson Street entrance yesterday on the fifth day of trial.

University student reaches finals of national scholarship PERSON OF THE WEEK from it. I thought, ‘This is something that’s interesting. This is something wor th knowing.’”

For tson came a long way to get to It took Walter For tson five months of where he is at the University, he said. exercise in prison, on charges for posWhile he enrolled as a business major at session and intent to sell crack cocaine Temple University in 2005, he began an and marijuana, before he could do his online sneaker company. first pull-up.

As the business took of f, he dropped But after his release and admission to out of school to devote more time to it, the University, the 26-year-old School of WALTER he said.

Ar ts and Sciences junior is a finalist for FORTSON His business eventually folded over the Harr y S. Truman Scholarship and chairs the Mountainview Project, a community threats of copyright infringement, as he was procuroutreach program for tutoring prison inmates, ing the sneakers from street vendors in New York while studying exercise science and spor t studies. City, so Fortson turned to another form of income to “I remember the feeling [exercise] gave me. It support his then 1-year-old son, his girlfriend, his was something I conquered,” the Philadelphia sister and his brother — selling crack cocaine. native said. “I felt more confident. I had a better SEE STUDENT ON PAGE 4 personality. There were so many benefits I found

BY AMY ROWE FEATURES EDITOR

The Rutgers University Student Assembly held a student debt teach-in last night at the Red Lion Café on the College Avenue campus with the aim to educate students about the amount of debt associated with higher education costs.

Spencer Klein, RUSA chair of Legislative Af fairs, said the gathering comes at a critical moment, with student debt becoming an increasingly prevalent problem among those who attend colleges across the nation.

“We’ve got student debt reaching $1 trillion next month,” said Klein, a School of Arts and Sciences junior. “We need to keep students from taking out subsidized private loans and encourage the subsidization of public loans and grants.”

John Connelly, vice president of RUSA, said the University’s sources of revenue are linked with the growing tuition prices and debts students accumulate.

“Rutgers’ total endowment is $603 million, ranked 105th in the nation,” he said. “Tuition is the biggest piece of the pie, and Rutgers administration has realized that. If they need the money, they can always milk it from us.”

Connelly, a School of Arts and Sciences junior, said New Jersey is especially mismanaged in terms of financing education. He said that the state hasn’t attempted to solve the problem.

This lack of funding from the state, Connelly said, has resulted in a strategy of cutting programs students rely on in order to compensate for the mismanaged funds.

He said the average student loan debt is $20,000 per student.

“When financial aid is insufficient for a student, what do we do? We bet against our own future. We turn to the private sector for loans,” Connelly said.

Pavel Sokolov, RUSA chair of Internal Affairs, said turning to loans could seem like an appealing choice for students, but it is potentially dangerous.

SEE RUSA ON PAGE 4

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MARCH 2, 2012

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CORRECTIONS In Wednesday’s front-page story, “Witness testimonies continue as trial reaches third day,” it was incorrectly stated that School of Arts and Sciences sophomore Alissa Agarwal, a witness in the Dharun Ravi case, was with Ravi at the time of the webcam viewing of Tyler Clementi in his residence hall room. She was with Ravi earlier in the evening.

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MARCH 2, 2012

UNIVERSITY

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Group uncovers Shia history, aims to correct misconceptions

BY SKYLAR FREDERICK CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The Ahlul-Bayt Student Association, a Muslim student group, held “Who are the Shia Muslims” Wednesday in the hopes of clearing up pre-existing misconceptions associated with Shia Muslims.

Four panelists unraveled the tr uth behind Shias through creating a dialogue at the Rutgers Student Center on the College Avenue campus to educate students the values of the faith, said Mustafa Jafri, master of ceremonies.

Jafri, a School of Ar ts and Sciences senior, said according to Britannica Encyclopedia and Guinness Book of World Records, Islam is the fastestgrowing religion in the world and is receiving increased media attention when discussing the conflicts of Middle Easter n politics or political strife between Muslims.

“We aim to uncover the tr uth behind the spoon-fed false propaganda from the media and present who are the Shia [Muslims] in a clear, positive academic context,” he said.

One of the misconceptions that people hold about the Muslim faith is that Shias are only found in Iran and Iraq, said Saiyid Rizvi, a panelist and University alumnus.

“Now the reason that a lot of people are going to think this [is] because the only time they’ve heard of Shias is in

NOAH WHITTENBURG / PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

School of Arts and Sciences first-year student Hasan Ali speaks as a panelist for “Who are the Shia Muslims” Wednesday night at the Rutgers Student Center on the College Avenue campus.

regards to the Islam revolution or in regards to the nuclear issue that they’re having right now,” Rizvi said.

To clear up the misconceptions, Rizvi said according to the Pew Research Center, there is a listing of Shia Muslims around the world, in places such as Tanzania,

Lebanon, Turkey, Yemen and Syria.

Another misconception involves interpreting the Quran because it is unlike other religious texts in which stories are told in a linear form, Rizvi said.

“Explanation and interpretation of the Quran lies solely

UNIVERSITY LEADERS TO DISCUSS ETHICS AT LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE Senior leaders from colleges and universities across the countr y aim to discuss the ethics involved in organizational culture at the 3rd Annual Ethical Leadership Conference, according to a University Media Relations ar ticle.

The University Institute for Ethical Leadership plans to hold the conference on May 3 and 4 where students can learn from one another how to make organizations beneficial to society, according to the article.

The first day of the conference will be dedicated to higher education, in which University presidents, deans, chancellors and trustees will meet, while the following day will focus on the need for ethical behavior in graduates, according to the article.

Other objectives will include finding ways the business sector could involve ethical leadership in higher education, according to the article.

Leaders at the conference will inform students about ways to respond to difficult situations and increase dialogue of ethical leadership in higher education, according to the article.

Ralph Izzo, chief executive officer of Public Service Enterprise Group, Inc. and

chair of the University Board of Governors, is scheduled to give a keynote address at the conference, according to the article.

The role of leaders has changed and become more complex, said Alex Plinio, co-founder of the institute, in the article.

“We want to facilitate a dialogue between higher education and business leaders to better prepare future leaders for a complex and unpredictable world,” Plinio said in the article. “[We also want to] help them develop the tools to promote responsible business practices and ethical leadership.”

The leadership organization aims to guide leaders to achieve the goals of an organization while avoiding ethical breaches and maintaining a reputation, according to the article.

University President Richard L. McCormick said it is a time of growing competition from abroad in which there is an increase in expectations from families and students, according to the article.

“I have seen the challenges of leadership in higher education become increasingly difficult,” McCormick said in the article. “In a complex world, University leaders are guardians of many priorities.”

with the holy Prophet Mohammad, this is where the distinction comes from between the Shiites and other schools of thought,” Rizvi said.

Zehra Ali, a panelist and University alumna, said when watching television, Muslim women are consistently por-

trayed as women whose rights have been taken away.

Ali said taking the histor y of Islam shows that there was a time when women were oppressed, but it no longer remained that way since Lady Khadija, the wife of a prophet, led the groundwork for socioeconomic changes for justice in society. “[Khadija] was a living example of what women could be and what women should be,” she said. “Suddenly they had a pedestal to speak.”

Ameer Ali, president of ABSA, said the organization hopes to spread awareness about Shia Muslims and correct any misconceptions.

“Our goal is to open up interfaith dialogue between our organization and other organizations such as the Muslim Student Association,” said Ameer Ali, a School of Arts Sciences senior. “We feel ver y unrepresented, and we want to get that message out to all other organizations and hopefully to create a community.”

Meriam Naqvi, an event attendee, said although she is a Shia Muslim, she wanted to learn more about the faith and hear what others have to say about her faith.

“I wanted to gain some more understanding about my own faith and to possibly hear more questions that Sunni faith and other inter faiths had about Shia Muslims,” said Naqvi, a School of Ar ts and Sciences junior.

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MARCH 2, 2012

STUDENT: Ex-prisoner creates U. Mountainview Program continued from front At a time when money was tight, dealing drugs was an appealing option, he said.

“I didn’t care [about] the connotations that come along with it.

This is business,” he said. “I did it for a year … in hindsight, it wasn’t survival. It was greed.”

Fortson said police searched his big, red suburban truck as he idled outside of the most dangerous projects in Atlantic City. They found three pounds of marijuana, two handguns and an ounce and a half of crack cocaine, he said.

“There was a drought of [crack cocaine,] so to speak. I was buying weed to supplement the loss,” For tson said.

“I’m thankful, because if I had been caught with what I usually had, it would have been a harsher sentence.”

He ser ved more than two years at the Mountainview Youth Correctional Facility in Annandale, N.J., with two years on parole.

While serving his sentence, Donald Roden, co-coordinator of the Mountainview Program, an initiative that identifies students in New Jersey’s youth correctional facilities as possible candidates for admission to the School of Arts and Sciences in New Brunswick, approached Fortson about applying.

“He was more excited to meet me than I was him,” he said. “He told me I was a great candidate for the Mountainview Program.

He had me sold.”

Because Roden, an associate professor in the Department of History, cared about Fortson and his potential for the program, Fortson felt more enthusiastic about coming to the University.

“While I was in prison, I considered my life over. Dr. Roden looked at me like I was a person, not an animal,” he said. “He looked at me like [I was] Walter.”

Fortson was admitted to the University while he was still in prison and commuted to the University from September 2009 to March 2010 from his halfway house in Newark, N.J., he said.

Fortson was glad to leave prison and enter the University to get his life back on track, he said.

“Prison is the worst place that anybody would ever want to go,” he said. “It’s not something I would wish on my enemy. What I was doing was definitely wrong, but I felt so degraded, words can’t describe it.”

At the University, Fortson established the Mountainview Project as a prisoner assistance program with other students who came to the University through the Mountainview Program.

“A lot of inmates are illiterate or below a sixth-grade level of education,” he said. “It was the desire of the Mountainview students who came through the program to get there to extend that gift. Being there, we know all too well that without an education, it’s going to be impossible to make it anywhere in life.”

Fortson’s initiative includes 280 students and faculty members that arrange to tutor at instate female and male correctional facilities in New Jersey through a Sakai website.

“It’s so fulfilling to see so many people who have never been through that experience care about it,” he said. “Hearing how fulfilling it is for them is fulfilling for me.”

Fortson is also a member of the School of Arts and Sciences Honors Program, the health chair at the University’s chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, a Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation scholar and a First-Year Interest Group peer instructor, he said.

After hearing about For tson through a Daily Targum stor y on the Mountainview Project, Ar t Casciato, director of external fellowships, suggested For tson apply for the Truman Scholarship.

Casciato said the Truman Scholarship is the most competitive in the nation, with strong candidates demonstrating academic excellence, creative leadership and community ser vice — all of which are things For tson possesses.

“What makes Walter a special candidate for the Truman is of course how far he has had to come to get where he is today,” he said. “It doesn’t hurt that [he] is about as polite and friendly an undergraduate as I’ve ever met, with an unmistakable warmth about him.”

Casciato said Fortson is likable even before learning that he is so helping to ex-offenders and is an ex-offender himself.

“In my 12 years of helping students apply for fellowships, I don’t think I’ve ever had a more deserving candidate than Walter Fortson, and I couldn’t be happier that he’s been asked to interview for the Truman,” he said.

The Tr uman Scholarship received 587 nominations of students from 272 colleges and universities nationally, Casciato said. Of these, 191 nominees from 124 schools were named finalists, and from this group about 60 scholars will be selected for $30,000 toward their graduate education, he said.

Fortson will inter view in Philadelphia on March 19 with 12 other finalists that attend schools in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, he said. Usually one to three scholars are selected from each state, he said.

In the University’s histor y, only seven students are Truman Scholars, with the last recipient winning the scholarship in 2001, he said.

Roden said he was thrilled to learn that Fortson is a finalist for the Truman Scholarship.

“He is richly deserving of the Truman Scholarship, and everyone associated with the Mountainview Program at Rutgers is enormously proud of his achievement,” he said.

An interview for the Truman Scholarship is surreal for Fortson, he said.

“If you’d have told me two years ago when I was in the halfway house that I had an opportunity to make Rutgers history, I probably would’ve been upset with you and walked away,” Fortson said. “I’m going to put my best foot forward and give it what I got.”

For tson, who hopes to become a professor that researches inmate populations some day, said winning the scholarship would mean the world to him.

“Winning the scholarship would almost be synonymous to the way Barack Obama felt when he won the election. I don’t know what I would do,” he said. “I’m that much closer to a Ph.D. — to achieving my dream. I’m that much closer to creating social change in the Depar tment of Corrections.”

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POTENTIAL EMPLOYERS SEEK OUT STUDENTS DURING REVERSE CAREER FAIR University students switched roles with employers yesterday during an untraditional job fair at the Rutgers Student Center on the College Avenue campus. Students from 40 campus groups across the University acted as the inter viewers as potential employers spoke to them.

More than 72 employers attended the event, according to an Asbury Park Press article.

Engineering students distributed résumés, pens and laptop cleaner brushes while they awaited questions from potential employers, according to the article.

“Now … employers are looking for civicminded students, team players, and those with demonstrated leadership skills,” said E.J. Miranda, director of University Media Relations via email. “They also want to connect with student groups as part of their recruiting strategy and build campus visibility. The

Reverse Career Fair format offers a great opportunity to do so.”

The University’s Juggling Club set up their booth next to the Rutgers University Programming Association and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, according to the article.

Vivian Chan, a School of Arts and Sciences junior, told the Asbury Park Press that juggling helps reduce stress and clear her mind.

“It shows we’re dedicated to something we’re interested in,” Chan said in the article.

School of Arts and Sciences senior Sameera Namazi, a member of the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineers, told the Asbury Park Press her visits to job fairs have been unsuccessful, but her outlook on the reverse career fair was promising.

“I feel like the employers are coming to you because they’re interested in what you have to offer,” Namazi said in the article.

LIANNE NG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

John Connelly, Rutgers University Student Assembly vice president, discusses the growing tuition prices and debts students accumulate yesterday in the Red Lion Café on the College Avenue campus.

RUSA: Students recount debt stories after presentation continued from front “Private loans are much more risky and more expensive to finance than federal loans,” said Sokolov, a Rutgers Business School sophomore. “The banks have a lot of money … they can make rates that are much more stringent, and they can hardball you into doing what they want you to do.”

He said students often fall into a trap when they miss a monthly payment and end up in default, which could lead to the banks tripling their interest rates.

“Private loans should be your last option,” Sokolov said. “The only way out is that you have to die. Legislation just changed so your debt doesn’t pass on to your descendants — so that’s actually an improvement.”

Ben Weitz, a School of Arts and Sciences first-year student,

said students should think before choosing a loan, as the decision can be hard to overturn once it is made.

“If you declare bankruptcy, you still have to pay of f your student debt,” he said. “This

“It’s up to us to go to Trenton, to do the little things like write ... our representatives.”

JOE CASHIN Rutgers University Student Assembly Corresponding Secretary

makes it a really big commitment to take out a loan.”

Weitz said 20 percent of government student loans default, a trend that the banks are happy about. This massive amount of student debt, he said, is liable to

cause a tuition bubble similar to the 2008 housing bubble that led to the economic recession.

Bilal Ahmed, a School of Arts and Sciences senior, said his personal relationship with loans is similar to that of many students also in the position of having a seemingly insurmountable debt.

“I’m in tens of thousands of dollars of debt I never even wanted because they kept slashing all of my options,” he said. “I don’t know what to do, and I don’t think there will be any time soon when I do know what to do.”

Joe Cashin, RUSA corresponding secretar y, said students should take responsibility in their own hands and bring the issue to legislative officials in an effort to make changes in the system.

“It’s up to us to go to Trenton, to go to [Washington] D.C., to do the little things like write or call our representatives ... tell them that education is a right and that that is not what is going on in this countr y right now,” Cashin said.

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T H E DA I LY TA R G U M

TRIAL: Jurors see Ravi’s Twitter account as evidence continued from front The morning session continued with Lokesh Ojha, one of Ravi’s friends and a fellow resident at the time, who took the stand to finish his cross-examination.

Ojha said Wednesday that Ravi asked for his computer, which he used to test the webcam in Ravi’s room. Ravi angled the camera toward Clementi’s bed, admitting that he lied about his involvement in Wednesday’s testimony.

He also said he lied to police officers during his questioning about his role in the alleged webcam viewing.

Ojha said he followed Ravi’s instructions to watch Clementi and his male guest on Sept. 21, 2010, but he was unable to view the video because the webcam connection did not work.

“Then I saw [Ravi] in the lounge and I said, ‘Yo, it didn’t work.’ And he said, ‘Yeah, I have been getting that from a lot of people,’” Ojha said.

Another inconsistency with his testimony was the location of Ravi’s webcam. The camera, which Ojha thought was embedded in the computer, was attached to the monitor of Ravi’s computer rather than built in.

Ojha was dismissed after about an hour of cross-examination.

Former Ultimate Frisbee Captain Geoffrey Irving said on Sept. 19, 2010 — the first day Ravi watched an encounter between Clementi and his male guest, M.B. — the team, including Ravi and friend Scott Xu, were at a tournament in South Jersey earlier in the day.

Irving, a University alumnus, said he and Ravi returned around 6 p.m. from the conference, but he could not remember if Ravi said anything about the proposed webcam viewing.

GROUPS: Organizations look for peace in Middle East continued from front Palestine, an inter national campaign against the Israeli government.

Jitan said Palestinian civil society called for three requests through BDS: the Israeli government to dismantle the “wall” in West Bank, the right of retur n for Palestinian refugees to historic Palestine and equal rights for all Palestinians.

“The purpose [of BDS] is to boycott and divest from companies that profit of f of humanrights violations, and place sanctions on Israel until it complies with the demands outlined in the BDS call and international law,” Jitan said.

Hajar Hasani, BAKA public relations of ficer, said the organization wants justice for Palestine.

“We stand for humanity, and if you care about humanity and justice, you have to care about the Palestinian movement,” said Hasani, a School of Ar ts and Sciences sophomore.

Hasani said BAKA’s main goal is to raise awareness with social, political, cultural and human rights issues throughout the greater Middle East.

MARCH 2, 2012

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Irving said Ravi spoke about his roommate when it came up in conversation, but not in a malicious manner.

“He had a suspicion that his roommate was gay,” Irving said.

Ir ving and Ravi were at r ugby practice on Sept. 21, 2010 from 9 to 11 p.m. with Xu during the night of the second webcam viewing.

After the practice, Ir ving drove Ravi to the dining hall to get takeout. While in line, Ir ving said Ravi told him about the proposed viewing and was “uncomfor table” with his living situation, but did not say anything malicious.

Jason Tam, a Cooper Union College sophomore and Ravi’s friend since seventh grade, took the witness stand next.

Tam said he communicated regularly with Ravi through text message, Gmail and AOL Instant Messenger.

Tam said he knew Ravi worked on a talking computer program called “Jarvis,” which gave him alerts, such as bus schedules and the weather.

Jennifer Frost-Hellstern, University Residence Life assistant director for Student Support, set up the “Simplicity” residence hall incident report three years ago.

Frost-Hellstern said she personally saw the report Clementi submitted, indicating that Ravi had spied on his roommate.

After viewing the report, Hellstern took a screenshot of Ravi’s Twitter page.

“Social media can be changed. … I wanted to make a copy of what I saw,” Hellstern said.

Frost-Hellster n read the Twitter posts as par t of her first examination.

Ravi tweeted that his roommate requested the room again on the night of Sept. 21, 2010, and warned his friends not to chat him from 9 p.m. to midnight.

This tweet was follow by one that read “Ever yone ignore that last tweet … stupid draft,” written via text message nine hours

before in a tweet posted on Ravi’s Twitter account.

RUPD officer Krzysztof Kowalczyk was the last witness to take the stand.

Kowalczyk was on patrol on Busch campus the night of Sept. 22, 2010 when he received a dispatch call to do a welfare check on a student in Davison Hall C. Of ficers conduct welfare checks on a person’s location and to see if they need assistance, he said. It is a common practice, and nothing out of the ordinary, he said.

“It’s a step below a missing persons report,” he said as Prosecutor Julie McClure questioned the severity of the call.

Kowalczyk knocked on the door of Room 30 around 9:30 p.m. to find Ravi inside the room.

Ravi said he last saw Clementi around 4:30 or 5 p.m. when he dropped off his backpack.

Kowalczyk said Ravi told him Clementi had an older male “who didn’t appear to be a college student” stay over their room Sunday night, but the guest left before he woke up.

The officer gave Ravi his business card with instructions to call him if he had any additional details or if Clementi returned.

Kowalczyk said he continued to inter view people around Room 30, but did not find any useful information from anyone but the residents living in Room 32. This information was not revealed in court.

He then reported his findings to Sgt. Timothy Walsh.

Kowalczyk did not provide further details from the night.

The trial is expected to resume today and last for another three weeks. The date for M.B.’s testimony has not been announced, but press will be unable to photograph him because he is an alleged victim of a sexual crime.

Ravi is facing charges of invasion of privacy, bias intimidation and hindering apprehension, which carry a prison sentence of up to 10 years.

“We were here to raise awareness of the systematic oppression of Palestine,” Hasani said.

Mark said Rutgers Hillel is not tr ying to be “anti-anything,” but want to reach the common goal of peace.

Rutgers Hillel held workshops during the week to spread a non-discriminator y view of Israel, Mark said.

“In a situation this complex, you cannot just give a polarized view,” Mark said. “You have to be open to conversation and have a real goal in mind.”

Abdul Khan, a BAKA member and president-elect of Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund, said students need to have an initiative for basic human rights.

“I stand against any violation of international law and accordingly thought [this event] was my obligation and civic duty,” said Khan, a School of Arts and Sciences sophomore.

Daniel Levi, co-director of Rutgers Hillel Israel Leadership Initiative, said people could be both pro-Palestine and pro-Israel.

“I am not afraid to say that I am both Pro-Israel and ProPalestine,” said Levi, a School of Ar ts and Sciences junior.

“When ever yone is unafraid to have mutual recognition, only then can people live together.”

Rutgers Hillel members share information about “hate week” yesterday on the steps of Brower Commons on the College Avenue campus. The group also held workshops on the issue during the week.

Voting officials express mail ballot concerns THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Elections officials in several states are concerned that the closing of mail-processing centers and post offices could disrupt vote-by-mail balloting this year, a potential problem that has led some members of Congress to call for a delay until after the November elections.

The U.S. Postal Ser vice recently announced that it is moving ahead with plans to close at least 223 processing centers and thousands of post of fices, adding to the 153 centers and 965 post of fices that have closed since 2008. The moves are par t of a wide-ranging cost-cutting strategy for an agency that estimates it will lose up to $18 billion a year by 2015.

Voting of ficials are raising a variety of concerns, depending on the circumstances in their states. Meanwhile, postal customers have security concerns about leaving ballots in their mailboxes to be picked up by postal carriers.

In California and Arizona, of ficials say the closing of processing centers could delay the deliver y of mail-in ballots beyond the deadline to have them counted.

The state registrar in Ohio wrote the postmaster general with concerns about ensuring the security of ballots with to be sent to processing centers that will be across state lines.

And in Oregon, the first state to require vote-by-mail, the state registrar says voters in r ural areas where post of fices are scheduled to be closed may have nowhere nearby to drop of f their ballots.

That would be especially problematic for those who have

become accustomed to mailing them on the final weekend.

“We just have to have a moratorium through this presidential year to avoid disastrous consequences,” said California Secretar y of State Debra Bowen, who wrote a letter last week to the U.S. postmaster general urging a halt to the closures until after the November election. “I’m asking for a time-out.”

The Postal Service has said the next round of facilities will not close until August, and it would then halt the process temporarily at the end of the month to minimize disruptions ahead of the general election.

The agency might begin its closures in states that already have held their primaries, Postal Ser vice spokeswoman Patricia Licata said. She acknowledged that the consolidation will lead to longer delivery times but dismissed concerns that it could disenfranchise voters.

“We realize that election mail is vital to the country, and we don’t want to do anything to disrupt that,” she said.

Mindful of the concerns back home, some members of Congress say they plan to ask for another delay, after the Postal Service agreed last year to a fivemonth moratorium on the closures that ends in mid-May. According to the Postal Ser vice, once the moratorium lifts, the earliest a mail-processing center could close would be August, par tly because the mail agency must work to reassign employees.

The first mail-processing centers to be af fected, which are yet to be determined, would be a handful of places involving the least dif ficulty in transferring employees.

NELSON MORALES / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

T H E D A I LY TA R G U M

METRO

MARCH 2, 2012

PA G E 7

CALENDAR Workshop gives strategies for healthy lifestyle

BY SONIKA KUMAR

MARCH Stand-up comedian Bob Marley will perform at the Stress Factor y Comedy Club, located on 90 Church Street in New Brunswick.

Marley has appeared on “The Late Show with David Letterman,” “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno and “Late Night” with Conan O’Brien. Marley will perform at the Stress Factor y from March 2-3 with shows at 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Tickets cost $20.

2

The Middlesex County 4-H Youth D e v e l o p m e n t Program will present a craft fair fundraiser from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The fair will have handson crafts for children and a bake sale. Funds will go toward the Middlesex County 4-H Center, a log cabin that serves as headquarters for many of the 4-H clubs and programs. The fair will be held at 645 Cranbury Road in East Brunswick.

3

The State Theatre in New Brunswick will present a comedic performance by Daniel Whitney, also known as “Larry the Cable Guy.” He was a part of “Blue Collar Comedy Tour, The Movie,” alongside Jef f Foxworthy, Ron White and Bill Engvall. The show will run both Saturday with two shows, one starting at 7 p.m. and one at 10 p.m. Tickets range from $39 to $89. The theatre is located on 15 Livingston Ave.

10

The Woodbridge American Irish Association will present their 39th St. Patrick’s Day Parade on March 11 at the Woodbridge High School on Kelly Street. The parade will take place at 1:30 p.m.

This year’s parade grand marshal is John ‘Sean’ Keaveney, who served in the U.S. Army for 25 years after retiring as a chief warrant officer.

11

The Pines Manor in Edison will host the “15th Annual Taste of Middlesex” event from 5:30 to 8 p.m. The occasion will feature 40-50 international food and beverage participants who will serve samples to the guests. Tickets are $50 per person when paid in advance. For more information, call the Edison Chamber of Commerce office at (732) 738-9482.

19

To have your event featured on www.dailytargum.com, send Metro calendar items to metro@dailytargum.com.

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

To cap off American Heart Month, February, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital hosted an event Wednesday night that focused on issues related to the muscle, shedding light on preventative measures to lower the risk of cardiac illnesses.

Mariam Merced, director of RWJUH’s Community Health Promotion Program, said the event, called “Matters of the Heart,” aimed to explore the different useful strategies in living a heart-healthy lifestyle. RWJUH’s cardiology department sponsors and hosts the annual event to celebrate American Heart Month.

“It’s ‘Heart Month,’ and the hospital has a cardiology department, and of course we honor all the residents, so we encourage them to come learn about the event,” Merced said.

“Matters of the Heart” showcased talks from notable speakers such as Daphne Oz, author of “The Dorm Room Diet” and cast member of the television show “The Chew,” as well as staff members from the New Brunswick-based hospital.

Anthony Altobelli, a cardiol- ed by a professional in order to ogist at RWJUH, said the pre- reduce the likelihood of developsentations allowed residents to ing heart disease. hear firsthand accounts from He said the turnout showed exper ts on how to avoid cer tain that people in the community lifestyle mistakes that are want to make an effort in improvharmful to the hear t, bringing ing their standards of living. them closer to the hospital’s More than 250 people attended own cardiac the event. depar tment in “I think there’s the process. always an interest “We’re trying “I do have a in our society to focus on staying where people want passion about being able to tell to come and be healthy so you people about educated, so the healthy heart livturnout was excelreally don’t have ing, and I would lent,” he said. to worry about like to see people Merced said have direct conRWJUH will cardiac issues. ” tact with cardioloopen a new fitMARIAM MERCED gists before they ness center at Robert Wood Johnson University actually need the hospital in Hospital’s Community Health them as doctors. I fall 2012 in an Promotion Program Director think that can be ef for t to commit very helpful,” he to the message of said. encouraging peoAltobelli’s presentation ple to move and be more active. emphasized different preventive Mar y Elwood, a former strategies that people should con- social worker who attended the sider when trying to live a healthy event, said the information prelifestyle, such as studying their sented at the hospital would diet and exercise habits, under- benefit many people who may standing prior family risk factors not be knowledgeable about and taking the time to be evaluat- cardiovascular issues.

“I think that if people come to events like this, [they’ll be] more thoughtful about eating better, exercising and doing things to take care of the hear t,” Elwood said.

Although the event focused more on preventive strategies that target an older audience, Altobelli said young adults should be aware that many of the same cardiovascular issues could also apply to them.

“I think that the key things for college students is [to not] forget your diet and don’t forget exercise. When you’re [focused] on studies and your social life, the two things [that are forgotten] are your diet and your physical activity, and that’s always a concer n,” he said.

Merced said the event’s organizers hope that the patients will appreciate the information that was presented so they don’t become one of the millions of people who suffer from heartrelated problems every year.

“We’re trying to focus on staying healthy so you really don’t have to worry about cardiac issues,” she said.

OBAMA’S NJ HEADQUARTERS OPENS IN MIDDLESEX COUNTY In anticipation of the 2012 presidential elections, President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign opened its New Jersey headquar ters in Nor th Brunswick on Wednesday, according to nj.com.

As of now, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has raised more money in New Jersey than Obama. State Sen. Linda Greenstein, D-Middlesex, said Democrats should continue to focus on the president’s re-election, according to the ar ticle.

“He’s a brave president who’s done some courageous things that others wouldn’t touch,” she told nj.com. “We have some really crazy elements out there, and we have to keep our eyes on the ball.”

Obama earned a comprehensive victory in New Jersey during the 2008 elections, winning with a 15-percentage point margin over then-Republican candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., according to the article.

Obama’s campaign will face competition from Gov. Chris Christie, who

endorsed Mitt Romney in October, according to the article. Christie raised $1.1 million for Romney in December after a single fundraising dinner.

With Christie helping Romney’s fundraising efforts, the Republican candidate has raised $2.3 million in New Jersey. Obama has fallen short of that number, raising $1.8 million in the Garden State, according to the article.

The numbers come from Federal Election Commissions records.

Romney has not opened an office in New Jersey, according to the article.

T H E D A I LY TA R G U M

OPINIONS

PA G E 8

MARCH 2, 2012

EDITORIALS

Week in review: laurels and darts

A

s college students, we’re all too familiar with the linguistic quirks and fillers that seem to make up the conversations of so many young people. We hear and use them daily, whether it be statements pronounced as if they’re questions (uptalk) or the perpetual insertion of “like” between every other word or the sloppy slang of terms like “ridic” or “legit.” But the latest trend infecting teens and 20-somethings across the nation is called “vocal fry,” better known as that creaking, croaking sound invoked at the end of a sentence. And what’s more, linguists have traced its origin to young women. Now, according to David Crystal, an honorary professor of linguistics at the University of Wales, Bangor, linguists don’t “praise or condemn, they simply observe and describe and try to explain what’s going on.” Well, Crystal, we’re not afraid of praising or condemning, so we’ll do it for you — we dart the use of vocal fry and other infectious linguistic quirks that make young people sound so ignorant. ’Cause, like, no one wants to sound like a stupid college student, ya know? *

*

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Stephen Hawking, the celebrated British theoretical physicist with arguably one of the brightest minds science has ever known, has been recently found to regularly frequent a California sex club, according to media reports. We must admit, we’re not sure what to say. As a scientist, Hawking ranks up there with the likes of Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr, and he was in 2009 awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom — the highest civilian award in the United States. On top of that, Hawking is almost completely paralyzed by a neurological disorder know as motor neuron disease. To think of him making the rounds in a room of soft flesh and G-strings, confined to a wheelchair, paints him in a totally new light. But, at the end of the day, Hawking is still human — and everybody’s got to get their kicks in some way or another. We laurel Hawking for refusing to let his condition get in the way of his libido. *

*

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Not even the rain and cold could keep a group of about 30 protesters from continuing to spread the message that Occupy Wall Street protesters began last year in Zuccotti Park. The group gathered in front of the Johnson & Johnson headquarters in downtown New Brunswick this week to rally against corporate greed, an event that is part of the “National Day of Action to Shut Down the Corporations,” taking place in different cities across country as part of a nationwide Occupy event.

J&J, according to protest organizer Jacob Nettleton, has “systematically worked against any health care reform at the state and federal level.”

We laurel the protesters for expressing their right to free speech and peaceful protest. We’re glad to see individuals out there still fighting the good fight — even if the weather does not cooperate. *

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The Rutgers University Programming Association is making earnest attempts to cater to the interests of our diverse student body. Celebrity Adrian Grenier and YouTube sensation Karmin are among RUPA’s featured guests this semester. But the organization seems to have missed the mark on Tuesday, bringing hard-rock band Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows (D.R.U.G.S.) to play. This may have been successful if the University was a middle school, and the students were angsty, pre-pubescent 16-year-olds.

But, unfortunately, neither is true, and instead of satiating the interests of a specific group, RUPA unintentionally insulted the musical tastes of all the indie/punk rock fans here at the University. We dart RUPA for mistaking the University student body for a group of adolescents with bad haircuts.

But we are glad that Aziz Ansari is coming to the University today. *

*

*

*

Students, faculty and administrators have publicly denounced the actions of the New York Police Department in monitoring Muslim Student Associations at schools across the Northeast between 2006 and 2007. As one of those schools affected by the NYPD’s actions, University community members on campus also came out against the allegedly unauthorized surveillance, recognizing a clear infringement on the civil liberties of so many Americans. On the opinions page, we witnessed an outpouring of support for the victims of the monitorings during the past week, taking the form of letters and statements from student organizations and individuals expressing their concern. University President Richard L. McCormick issued a mass email Tuesday to University students declaring his support for an investigation into the legality of the department’s actions. We laurel the student organizations, administrators and all others who’ve made clear their disapproval of the NYPD monitorings. Injustice anywhere, as Martin Luther King Jr. once said, is a threat to justice everywhere. Seldom have these words rang so true.

QUOTE OF THE DAY “I did it for a year … in hindsight, it wasn’t survival. It was greed.”

Walter Fortson, a School of Arts and Sciences junior and a finalist for the Truman Scholarship, on charges for possession and intent to sell crack cocaine and marijuana STORY ON FRONT

MCT CAMPUS

Growing up with Houston A

s many of you that movie, that message know, Whitney and that song more than I Houston recently had felt any previous serdied. It’s a fact that forced mon given to me at that me to think of my past with age. “Though hope is frail, her — and yes, for those it’s hard to kill” — words TAMIYAH YANCEY who are wondering, I did sung by two women who grow up with Whitney. Like truly believed in them. And her, I, too, am from Newark, N.J. I’ve also spent until this day, I cannot hear that song without my youth in the comfort of the church, and I thinking back to my innocence, my first lesson of even had dreams of becoming a famous singer. a biblical narrative and my first belief in miracles.

But in all reality, this was not the basis of But Houston didn’t end my lesson there — I our relationship. was reintroduced to Houston at the age of 12. She I was visiting my grandmother’s church — she had taken on yet another role in a film paralleled was raised in her mother’s. I couldn’t sing to save with gospel: “The Preacher’s Wife.” Co-starring my life — Whitney could sing people to tears. We with Denzel Washington, Houston portrayed a both were born in the city of Newark, but decades woman married to a reverend who had distanced would separate our birth dates. So how did I grow himself from her and his church. However, up with Whitney? The answer is through the midst of him almost through her talent, with her stolosing his faith, an angel is liter“Until this day, ries and her headlining career. ally sent from heaven to assist But more specifically, I didn’t him in rekindling the hope in I cannot hear [“When only grow up with Houston’s his life, once more. Again, the You Believe”] without voice, but with her songs within this film are what I big-screen performances. wish to draw upon, and the two thinking back to my Houston’s movie debut’s that stuck out to me are “I peaked during the decade of the innocence ... and my first Believe in You and Me” and “I ’90s. Star ting with “The Love the Lord.” Her acting skills belief in miracles. ” Bodyguard” in 1992, and ending were as inspiring as her vocal with “The Prince of Egypt” in ones, and I will forever be 1998 (aside from the 2012 amazed at how she went from remake of “Sparkle,” which I have not yet seen). soulful subtlety in the first song, to Godly gospel Nevertheless, I choose to focus on three that in the next. Whether you are Christian or otherproved to be influential in my life. wise, the love in this movie for family and someStarting from the year of its premier, “The thing greater than yourself is enough to touch Prince of Egypt” was a film that gave me my first anyone with a heart. I know because it touched insight to the wonders of God. For those who may mine, and Houston simply affirmed that fact. not know, the movie depicted the animated verThe final film I felt had purpose was one that I sion of Moses’ life in becoming God’s messenger. wasn’t allowed to see until I developed into a A serious subject for an 8-year-old to admire, but young woman. Yes, “Waiting to Exhale” was Rit still held a place in my heart being that is was rated, and when I finally viewed it, I felt a new both an educational cartoon and a musical. If comfort in growing up. The film followed the stothere is one way to capture an 8-year-olds’ attenries of four female best friends going through tion, show them an animated film with song and life’s struggle, turmoil and heartbreaks. But in dance involved, and you won’t hear from them for the end, the movie left the viewer with a revelaan hour. But scaling back to Houston’s effect on tion that no matter what men may enter or leave me — “The Prince of Egypt” introduced me to the your life, “but when you’ve got friend to wish you idol, when she and Mariah Carey’s genius was SEE YANCEY ON PAGE 9 displayed in the song “When You Believe.” I felt

A 'Pigment' Of My Imagination

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O PINIONS

T H E DA I LY TA R G U M

MARCH 2, 2012

9

Respect religious practices of University students Letter OPEN LETTER FROM TICARU he Inter faith Chaplains Association at Rutgers University (TICARU) ser ves as a forum for positive and constr uctive dialogue among its members in order to advance the cause of religious life within the University community. The aim is not to proselytize, but rather to embrace a process by which each group might come to understand and appreciate both the dif ferences and common ground between and among faith communities.

TICARU provides an opportunity for ongoing communication among its members, ser v-

T

YANCEY

ing as a clearinghouse for ideas and information. The religious life of University students is of paramount concern, and the members of this association seek to of fer one another mutual suppor t and to develop ways and means of fruitfully working together.

It has recently come to light that the New York Police Depar tment had monitored Muslim Student Associations across the Nor theast and also here at the University.

We, the undersigned members of TICARU, share an instinctive revulsion that police or other gover nment agents might have engaged in unauthorized and unwarranted clandestine sur veillance of our stu-

dents and, for that matter, any other American citizens.

“The aim is ... to embrace a process by which each group might come to understand ... the differences and common ground” We recognize the hur t feelings of many Muslim students on our campus who may fear they are being singled out for no other reason than the reli-

gion they practice.

Our U.S. Constitution, the foundational and revered text of American society, guarantees freedom of assembly, religion and speech for all Americans. These are our essential liber ties and must be guarded and protected at all costs.

We support responsible police investigations conducted in accordance with the law and for just cause. We also support the University administration in seeking a fuller explanation to this issue, to ensure that the constitutional rights and liberties of our students — as well as those of all Americans — are being upheld and are not being violated, especially here on our campus.

Brother Kenneth Apuzzo is the director of the Catholic Center. Rev. Gregory Bezilla is the chaplain of the Episcopal Campus Ministr y.

Imam Moutaz Charaf is the chaplain of the Center for Islamic Life.

Rev. Barbara Heck is the director of the Protestant Campus Ministries. Rev. Ellen Little is the chaplain of the Wesley Fellowship. Rabbi Esther Reed is the senior associate director of Rutgers Hillel. Rabbi Heath Watenmaker is the reform outreach rabbi of Rutgers Hillel.

Rabbi Akiva Weiss and Nataly Weiss are the Or thodox Union Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus educators of Rutgers Hillel.

COMMENTS OF THE DAY

continued from page 8 well, you’ll find you point when you will exhale.” So there you have it. This was not a stor y meant to impress anyone, or even to connect with anyone.

These are not words meant to critique Houston or grieve her passing. This was simply a stor y of how we grew up together and how she made an imprint on my life.

Tamiyah Yancey is a School of Ar ts and Sciences senior majoring in journalism and media studies with minors in Africana studies and cinema studies.

Her column, “A ‘Pigment’ Of My Imagination,” runs on alternate Fridays.

“‘I agree with free speech.

But when did anyone in the government ever care about the Constitution?”

User “Edward Michael Reep” in response to the March 1 column, “A case for free speech, part I”

“We don’t need another dumb word to insult awkward people we don’t like. ‘Peesh’ isn’t even that great a Scrabble term.”

User “Elon” in response to the Feb. 29 column, “Settling the ‘peesh’ problem”

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T H E D A I LY TA R G U M

DIVERSIONS

PA G E 1 0

Horoscopes / LINDA C. BLACK

Pearls Before Swine

MARCH 2, 2012

STEPHAN PASTIS

Today's Birthday (03/02/12). A quick pace moves you through this next year, with community projects flourishing and financial decisions to make. Donate skills and talents rather than money. A new home or relocation could develop after June; choose lower payments. Enjoy domesticity. To get the advantage, check the day's rating: 10 is the easiest day, 0 the most challenging.

Aries (March 21-April 19) — Today is a 7 — Mercury enters your sign today, bringing communication confidence. The next two days are good for making changes at home. Stick to the core message. Replenish reserves.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) — Today is a 7 — Listen and learn. Your concentration's especially keen.

You're earning admiration from someone you respect. Keep a low profile this evening to recharge.

Gemini (May 21-June 21) — Today is an 8 — Choose to learn skills by which you can profit.

Social networking opens doors.

Brevity is the heart of elegance.

Do what works. Keep your word.

Watch the bottom line.

Cancer (June 22-July 22) — Today is an 8 — Someone's paying attention; accept their love fully. Balance studies with socializing. Your words have power today, so use your charm for good.

Leo (July 23-Aug. 22) — Today is an 8 — Education looks good on you, and you can't get enough. You can find a great opportunity. You're an intellectual warrior in the fun zone. Go ahead and make plans.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) — Today is an 8 — You've got great ideas for home improvement, with action and intellect lined up around creativity and romance. Light candles and have a dinner party. Get artsy.

Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) — Today is an 8 — Show respect and gain love. Your charm captivates. Put it in writing, and send it out. Keep the deadlines, play by the rules,and new bonus opportunities arise.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) — Today is a 9 — Your self-discipline is impressive. You're getting more attractive and others are taking notice. How will you use your charm? Think long term.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) — Today is a 6 — You're being pushed to take action. Meditation clears up the doubts and makes it easier to make a decision. Don't discuss personal matters yet.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) — Today is a 7 — Go over the instructions again. There's a tendency to want to do it all at once, which could be challenging. Let other people help.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) — Today is an 8 — Figure out new ways of making money, and get into the action without delay.

Find a quiet space where it's easier to concentrate. Get some rest.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — Today is a 7 — Words of love flow with extra ease today. Say it with flowers, maybe, to add color to the poem. Share music that speaks your heart with your muse.

Dilbert

Doonesberry

Happy Hour

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Stone Soup

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D IVERSIONS JAN ELIOT

MARCH 2, 2012

Pop Culture Shock Therapy

11

DOUG BRATTON

DARBY CONLEY

Non Sequitur

WILEY

Jumble

H. ARNOLD & M. ARGIRION THAT SCRAMBLED WORD GAME

by David L. Hoyt and Jeff Knurek

Brevity

GUY & RODD

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SMADEK

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J ORGE C HAM

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Unscramble these four Jumbles, one letter to each square, to form four ordinary words.

TECPIO Now arrange the circled letters to form the surprise answer, as suggested by the above cartoon.

Ans: Yesterday’s

Sudoku

© PUZZLES BY PAPPOCOM

Solution Puzzle #34 3/1/12

Solution, tips and computer program at www.sudoku.com

(Answers tomorrow) Jumbles: CONGA LARVA CRUNCH BESIDE Answer: She was struggling in geometry class because there was a — LEARNING CURVE

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PA G E 1 2

MARCH 2, 2012

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S P O RT S

T H E DA I LY TA R G U M

MARCH 2, 2012

13

ENRICO CABREDO / ASSOCIATE PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Mike Poole spent his summer playing with close friend Maurice Harkless of St. John’s in a summer league at Baruch College.

FINALE: Poole works way to role at talented St. Benedict’s continued from back coach Dan Hurley’s team brimmed with talent.

Point guard Scott Machado, now at Iona, is likely a 2012 NBA first-round pick.

Samardo Samuels played 37 games last season for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Tristan Thompson went fourth overall in 2011 to the Cavs.

And then there was Poole. “[Poole] had to work to get an opportunity,” said Hurley, now head coach at Wagner. “He had to prove himself every day that he was good enough to play.”

St. Benedict’s finished No. 4 nationally, according to USA Today, in Poole’s final season.

Harkless spurned other highprofile New York schools and stayed at home, playing for Queens’ Forrest Hills. But under the guidance of Nate Blue, a mainstay on the New York AAU scene, Harkless chose to spend his last season at the South Kent School (Conn.).

It was Blue, the enigmatic city basketball figure, who created Team Real Scout, an AAU program tailor-made for Harkless and Poole. Poole calls Blue his uncle. Blue’s Twitter

PLAYOFFS: Rutgers faces tough road in XL Center continued from back ing up. That doesn’t make any sense. So quite honestly, where I’m coming from is that I have a hard time getting used to it, but I don’t intend to get used to it.”

Like it or not, the Knights still have to win four games, including a matchup with Connecticut. The Huskies handed them a 32-point defeat earlier in the year, and with the XL Center in Hartford, Conn., as the tournament venue, Rutgers will likely have to face an all-UConn crowd.

On the bright side, just as Stringer predicted, the team has hit its stride in the home stretch, upping its offensive production during the last four games.

A better shooting percentage has a large part to play in that improvement. In each of the final three games, the Knights managed better than a 40-percent clip.

The sudden improvement of senior guard Nikki Speed also has a role to play in the final four wins. She has become the

shows of f a photo Blue and Harkless in an embrace.

“He takes care of us any way he can,” Poole said of Blue. “We knew him before we started playing basketball. He just looks out for us with anything we need. He’s like a father figure in our lives. I appreciate everything he does for us.”

Blue advised Harkless during the recruiting process, when Harkless originally verbally committed to Connecticut before NCAA eligibility investigations forced him to reconsider. He ended up at St. John’s, less than 10 miles from where he grew up.

Poole committed late in the 2010 recruiting season to Rutgers, which had recently hired head coach Mike Rice from the Northeast Conference. Poole was raw, but Rice — inheritor of only two commitments — could not afford to hesitate.

Rice sees the payoff in Poole’s second season, although the guard remains a work in progress.

“I can’t wait to put 10 to 15 pounds of muscle on Mike Poole.

Then I got a steal,” Rice said of his guard, who fouled out last night with four points. “He’s still a touch frail, but he has a toughness that I love. I enjoy coaching Mike as much as I enjoy anybody.”

Poole’s increase in production is modest — 1 more point per

game in 2011-2012 and .2 more steals — but he also contends with three freshman ballhandlers.

Competition was even stiffer during the summer in Manhattan’s Nike Pro City league.

He and Harkless, playing for Queensbridge, went toe-to-toe with lockout-affected NBA players and former college standouts.

All-Star NBA for ward Kevin Durant even made an appearance at the Baruch College gym.

It was below the surface of the city’s 24th Street where Poole worked, scoring 19 points and grabbing 14 rebounds in one game. Poole was usually the youngest player on the floor.

“Wherever Mike Poole went to go play college basketball, I knew he’d have a career,” Hurley said. “He’ll force the coach to play him because he’s going to work for it. He’s the type of kid every program needs.”

Rice caught Poole on the Louis Brown Athletic Center court around 10:30 one winter night after a walk-through, putting up shots for an hour and a half. Poole used to meet Harkless there after games on Harkless’ nights off, but Poole had no partner that evening.

He was alone with the game for once, and he was OK with it.

“The gym,” Poole said, “is always open.”

player Stringer knows she can be.

“I wish that she had played like that her freshman year because that’s what I expected,” Stringer said.

In the season finale against Marquette, Speed achieved season highs in both points (8) and assists (six). Her biggest contribution, according to Stringer, is her ability to facilitate the offense.

“She takes care of everybody else,” she said. “Mama doesn’t go and eat and then ask the rest of the kids, ‘You guys hungry?’ You have to give some breadcrumbs to everybody else first, and if there’s some crumbs left, you can eat, too.

[Speed] now knows that.”

In the last four games, Rutgers also has held its turnover total below its season average. That benefits the offense by allowing for more positions and more scoring.

“For us to be able to come out and score as many points and execute and not turn the ball over these last four games is definitely a confidence booster,” Rushdan said. “It’s what we need to be able to go into the Big East [tournament] and feel confident and do what we need to do.

RALLY: Villanova appears like itself after tough stretch continued from back Junior Maalik Wayns and redshir t freshman JayVaughn Pinkston paced Villanova with 18 points apiece. Juniors Dominic Cheek and Mouphtaou Yarou followed with 15 and 10 points, respectively.

For Villanova head coach Jay Wright, this is the team he expected to see before it was ravaged by injuries to major players.

“We’re 12-17. That doesn’t feel good, but we know what we’ve been through,” he said.

“The guys we’ve lost have been significant guys. It’s not like we’re losing the fifth star ter and the sixth man. [Pinkston] and [Wayns] are arguably our best players.”

Getting to the end result came with as much ease for Rice as it had the whole season — none whatsoever. It was a game of extremes for the Knights (13-17, 5-12).

When things rolled Rutgers’ way in the second half, the

NELSON MORALES / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Sophomore guard Mike Poole shoots over a Pirates defender.

Poole faces his neighbor, Maurice Harkless, against St. John’s.

Wildcats lacked an answer. Drives to the basket by Miller and the freshmen guards turned into foul shots rather than offensive fouls.

Villanova ended the game with 20 turnovers, nearly five more than it is accustomed to and at times, slumped back into the team worthy of a sub-.500 record.

But when the Knights hit rough patches in the first half,

“Losers only put in ony half, and that’s what we are right now. We’re losers.”

MIKE RICE Head men’s basketball coach

everything seemed to go wrong, characterized by a pass attempt to Seagears that caromed off his foot and landed out of bounds.

“It was a poor job doing the little things,” Rice said. “They did it with no intensity or anything.”

On the other side of the ball, early on Villanova could do no wrong.

For the Wildcats, the outside shot was in full ef fect. The Villanova team that traveled to Piscataway last night was the group that was expected from the beginning of the season.

The Big East’s worst shooting team — third worst in three-point shooting — pulled of f a percentage of 69.2 in the first half, which would place them above conference leader Syracuse.

Long range shots were more of the same in the opening stages for Villanova. The Wildcats went 8-for-10 from beyond the arc, blitzing their season average of 31 percent, connecting on seven of their first eight 3-pointers.

The Knights were far less efficient on offense early in the game. They went 9-for-26 from the field and 2-for-8 from downtown, much more aligned with their season averages than their opponents.

“I congratulated [the team] on a great second half, but losers only put in one half, and that’s what we are right now. We’re losers,” Rice said. “We lost a game in our own building that you have to win.”

14

S PORTS

MARCH 2, 2012

T H E DA I LY TA R G U M

Pair of Knights foes provide ranked test in Milwaukee

BY BRADLY DERECHAILO CORRESPONDENT

With a 5-2 early spring record in place, Rutgers head tennis coach Ben Bucca knows this weekTENNIS end provides an RUTGERS AT opportuMARQUETTE, nity for TODAY, 2 P.M. his team t o improve its Big East standing.

It also serves as a chance for the Scarlet Knights to add a national ranking to their résumé.

The Knights play host Marquette today at 1 p.m. in Milwaukee and square off tomorrow against No. 36 DePaul. Both teams give Rutgers a chance to climb into the polls for the first time this season.

“It should hopefully give us a shot and I know what everyone has their eye on, and that is to get a national ranking,” Bucca said.

“We are really close to it and are right on the cusp, so in order to get a national ranking, you have to beat nationally ranked teams.”

Marquette will be Rutgers’ first test. The Golden Eagles enter today’s match after they dropped Sunday’s 4-3 decision to

in-state rival Wisconsin. Their 7-2 record includes Big East victories against West Virginia and Connecticut.

Marquette won last season’s matchup against the Knights, 4-3, a score that indicates how close the two teams battled each other since the Golden Eagles joined the conference in 2005.

“This is a big weekend.

We’ve always had a great rivalr y with Marquette,” Bucca said. “They are always an upper-tier Big East team. This year I’m expecting an equally close match with them.

They have a ver y strong winning record.”

Rutgers arrived yesterday in Wisconsin and practiced last night at Marquette’s facility. It gave the team an opportunity to adjust and get familiar with the court they will use for the next two days, Bucca said.

While Marquette has its home court to use in its favor, the Knights’ Saturday opponent has its national ranking as an advantage.

DePaul has lost two of its last three contests, but its last match resulted in a 4-3 victory against No.31 Arkansas. The Knights will serve as the Blue Demons’ (9-3) first Big East opponent of the spring season.

Rutgers also looks to defeat DePaul for the first time under Bucca. In order to do so, strong doubles play must start early for the Knights.

While they lost the doubles point in last weekend’s 4-3 victory against Georgetown, Rutgers cannot afford to start off slow in doubles against both teams.

Senior Morgan Ivey and freshman Lindsay Balsamo provided the only win in doubles against the Hoyas with their 8-0 shutout of Georgetown’s’ Lauren Jaegar and Alexandra Landers. They will have to continue their consistent play in the No. 3 doubles position to give the Knights early momentum in both matches. “[Ivey and Balsamo] certainly gives ever yone a lot of confidence,” Bucca said. “They are playing strong tennis, but more impor tantly, they are playing strategically good tennis and they are implementing many of the strategies that we talk about in practice.”

While the Knights’ play against both teams this weekend will dictate whether they enter the national rankings, Bucca believes his team has worked hard enough

ENRICO CABREDO / ASSOCIATE PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

Senior Morgan Ivey represented half of the doubles team with freshman Lindsay Balsamo that beat Georgetown, 4-3, Feb. 24. this season to give themselves an opportunity to perform well.

“If we can implement in a match what we’ve been doing in practice, then that’s what we

can control and that’s what I’m looking for,” Bucca said. “I have a feeling that if we do that, the wins will take care of themselves.”

LIANNE NG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Sophomore Alexis Gunzelman performs her bar routine in the Scarlet Knights’ most recent quad meet against Air Force, Bridgeport and Eastern Michigan.

She recorded a team-best score of 9.750, but the Knights struggled as a whole, earning a team score of 46.825 en route to a third-place finish.

Rutgers works out Achilles’ heel in uneven bars

BY VINNIE MANCUSO CORRESPONDENT

As the Rutgers gymnastics team pushes toward its last three meets before the EAGL Championships, it looks to do something that eluded them for GYMNASTICS t h e majority RUTGERS AT of the CORNELL, season.

TOMORROW, 7 P.M. For the Scarlet Knights, their largest problem has been putting together consistent performances in all four events.

Lately, the event that dragged down their score consistently is the uneven bars.

Called the team’s “nemesis” by head coach Louis Levine, the

Knights’ 46.825 score on bars in their latest quad meet landed Rutgers in third place on the podium. Save for the bar routine, the Knights consistently scored more than 48.000 in every event.

And yet junior Jenna Zito, who does not compete on bars but has stood and watched her teammates struggle, still sees the improvement, even as the season winds down. For her, this development lifts the Knights’ confidence up more than one event can drag their scores down.

Their next chance to prove they improved comes tomorrow in a quad meet at Cornell.

“I see a lot of improvement. I see a lot of confidence going up there. I think that is really helpful,” Zito said.

“We have been working really hard

in the gym. It is midseason, some of us are hurting and some of us might be a little tired. I think we just need to keep up that hard work and it will come.”

In every event other than the uneven bars, this step up is not hard to see.

In the quad meet last week against Bridgeport, Eastern Michigan and Air Force, the Knights set a season-high score of 192.400 in their third-place finish. In the process, Zito and sophomore Alyssa Straub tied for second place with personal-best scores of 9.875 on the floor exercise, in which Rutgers placed first with a score of 48.925.

Rutgers also set a season-high score of 48.325 on the balance beam last weekend, thanks to a career high

9.875 from rookie Anastasia Halbig.

And if all these successes have taught the Knights anything in preparing for this weekend’s meet, it is that they are capable of landing every routine in their arsenal.

Zito sees her teammates land their routines every day in practice.

For her, it is time they do the same in competition.

“We are past that point of just trying to make your routines. I think everyone can do it. We go out here every week and we do it,” Zito said.

“We know our spots in the lineup, and we are comfortable with each other now. I think everyone just needs to do the great routines we have been practicing.”

In the week leading up to the meet at Cornell, he wanted

that ef for t in practice to continue.

“All I expect is for these girls to come in and give an effort every day,” Levine said. “A lot of this sport is putting in numbers. The other part of that is watching your numbers. It is a balancing act.”

But practice may be hard for a Knights squad that has been plagued with injuries throughout its last couple of meets.

Even so, it may be the key to bringing Rutgers from third to first place this weekend on the podium.

“When we are putting in numbers, I need that 110 percent,” Levine said. “It is a long season, everyone has little nagging things that hurt here and there. It is just a matter of keeping your body healthy and working as hard as you can.”

S P O RT S

T H E DA I LY TA R G U M

MARCH 2, 2012

15

WORD ON THE STREET

R

utgers women’s basketball senior point guard Khadijah Rushdan earned First-Team All-Big East honors yesterday.

Rushdan averaged 13.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists this season. She missed two games with a concussion in the midst of a five-game losing streak.

The conference unanimously selected the Wilmington, Del., native, along with Notre Dame guard Skylar Diggins and DePaul guard Anna Martin.

Notre Dame’s Natalie Novosel and Devereaux Peters, Connecticut’s Tiffany Hayes and Bria Hartley, Georgetown’s Sugar Rodgers, Louisville’s Shoni Schimmel, St. John’s Shenneika Smith and West Virginia’s Asya Bussie were also chosen.

THE

PHILADELPHIA

Eagles placed their franchise tag yesterday on wide receiver DeSean Jackson.

The deadline for teams to use their franchise tag is Monday. Jackson was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent March 13, when the period for transactions begins at 4 p.m.

The wideout held out for a new contract in training camp before last season, and the Eagles deactivated him for a game.

Jackson finished last year with 57 receptions, 1,041 yards and six touchdowns.

NEW

YORK

YANKEES

owner Hal Steinbrenner said he wants to reduce the team’s payroll to around $189 million in the future, according to ESPN. Steinbrenner wants to enact this plan in two years.

Since the luxury tax was instituted in 2003, the Yankees have paid more than 90 percent of the total.

The Yankees paid $13.9 million in luxury tax last year, their lowest total since 2003, but Steinbrenner wants to put the payroll below the luxury tax threshold.

The 2012 Yankees payroll is approximately $210 million.

They have already committed $118 million for 2013.

THE

ST.

LOUIS

Cardinals and catcher Yadier Molina agreed to a five-year, $75 million contract.

The deal makes Molina the second highest-paid catcher in all the Majors, behind the Minnesota Twins’ Joe Mauer.

Molina won his second World Series title last year with St. Louis. He batted .305 with 14 home runs and 65 RBI. He added 12 RBI in the playoffs.

The Cardinals now have a payroll of around $115 million heading into the season.

THE DAILY TARGUM

Junior pitcher Rob Smorol starts against No. 9 Georgia Tech tomorrow in Atlanta. Smorol allowed six earned runs in 4 2/3 innings in the Yellow Jackets’ sweep over the Knights last year. The righthander now faces Georgia Tech with a full year of starting experience.

No. 9 Georgia Tech gives RU’s toughest test

BY JOSH BAKAN ASSOCIATE SPORTS EDITOR

Ever y week, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association of America decides on the BASEBALL 30 best college RUTGERS AT baseball GEORGIA TECH, teams in TODAY, 4 P.M. t h e nation.

This week, all 30 hailed from warm climates.

The Rutgers baseball team is not on there, but a successful series this weekend against No. 9 Georgia Tech might merit it some recognition.

“This is the best team we’ve had [in my career],” said junior pitcher Rob Smorol. “We’re playing really well right now, and this is the week to show we can be in the national rankings.”

Smorol faced the Yellow Jackets twice in his career. The

most recent appearance came last year, when Smorol was still adjusting to starting games.

The left-hander’s transition last season was smooth in his first two starts. He put the Scarlet Knights in position for their lone victory against Miami and then won against Michigan.

But Georgia Tech rattled him for six earned runs in four and 1/3 innings.

He was not alone. Georgia Tech scored 33 runs in the series for an average of 11 runs per game against the Knights.

But Saturday’s start will be different for Smorol. He takes the mound with more collegiate starting experience than any Knight in the series.

This time, he feels ready.

“Hopefully I can hide my pitches a little more this time and be able to get through that order,” Smorol said. “Last year definitely got me more prepared for it, since I pitched an inning [against Georgia Tech] my freshman year.

This time I actually got through that lineup.”

But the Yellow Jackets (7-2) sport a strong lineup. They are patient at the plate, having walked 48 times with only 65 strikeouts.

Georgia Tech can pull the ball too. The team has hit six out of the park and also doubled 22 times. The Knights’ (3-3) .365 slugging percentage is nearly .100 points lower than the Yellow Jackets’ .450.

That patience and power is scattered throughout.

“One through nine, everybody can hit,” Smorol said. “They pick up signs really well. Any kind of tendencies you have on the mound, they’re going to pick them up.”

But the Knights enter Russ Chandler Stadium tomorrow with offensive momentum of their own, fresh off a 40-hit series last weekend against Old Dominion. They also hit with runners in scoring position, bringing home 24.

“In all three of the games, we hit the ball pretty well,” said head

coach Fred Hill. “We executed when we were supposed to execute. We got a boatload of hits.”

The middle of the order looks to be as productive as they were against the Monarchs.

Sophomore second baseman Nick Favatella extended his hitting streak to 17 games dating back to last season, junior catcher Jeff Melillo hit .375 and junior right-fielder Steve Zavala drove in four runs.

Hill also brings history with him to Atlanta as one of the alltime winningest active coaches from the north. But none of his 1,030 wins came in recent history against the Yellow Jackets.

But Georgia Tech presents Rutgers with a chance to prove itself to its future Big East opponents and the southern teams it faces this month.

“They’re the best team we’re going to face all year,” Smorol said. “[Our goal is to] take the series, just like any other week.”

RU readies for final step before nationals

BY BEN CAIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The Rutgers men’s track and field team enters this weekend’s IC4A indoor championships at Boston University with two goals in mind.

MEN’S TRACK The first is to RUTGERS AT win the IC4A CHAMPS, meet.

TOMORROW The second is to qualify as many athletes as it can for the NCAA Championships on March 9 and 10 in Nampa, Idaho.

The sprinters may have an easier time accomplishing that goal, as the wide banks at the Boston University Track and Tennis Center is more favorable to runners than the sharper turns at The Armory, where Rutgers competed many times in the past.

“The banks are curved, so they’re more graceful turns for the runners,” said head coach Mike Mulqueen. “They’re bigger turns than the New York Armory,

so it makes the track faster because the straightaways are shorter. You don’t have to slow down into the turns like sometimes in The Armory you do, because they’re so big.”

Senior Stephen Werner will forego the 200-meter dash in order to better concentrate on the 400-meter dash and 4x400-meter relay. This allows him to save more energy since, unlike the Big East Championships, the 4x400meter relay at the IC4A’s includes a trial heat.

But while the track may provide an advantage to the sprinters, the field area at BU is not known to have an ideal surface for jumping, as it does not have as much softness and give as the track does. That is why redshirt freshman Corey Crawford will try to qualify for nationals in the long jump at the Columbia Last Chance Meet tonight on The Armory’s more favorable surface.

Crawford’s season-high jump of 7.59 meters is .08 meters shy of 16th place nationally, which is

where he would need to be to assure himself an invite.

Regardless of whether he qualifies tonight, he will compete Saturday in the long jump.

The field surface at BU was replaced last year with a softer one, and redshirt junior Adam Bergo, who is .05 meters shy of qualifying for nationals in the high jump, thinks that will help him achieve his goal.

“It’s a lot better now, a lot quicker, a lot faster, a little more give, so you can get a little more bounciness out of the floor,” he said.

The extra give will ease the tension on Bergo’s sprained left ankle when he turns and plants for the high jump, which was an issue for him at the Big East Championships. But the injury prevents him from jumping on back-to-back days, so he will skip the long jump Saturday in order to compete in Sunday’s triple jump and high jump.

This could be the last meet of the season for Bergo and redshirt junior James Plummer. Both are

redshirting the outdoor portion of this season to train for the Olympic trials in the high jump and discus throw, respectively.

Senior Kevin Bostick will come off his redshirt of the indoor season to take over Bergo’s role as the team’s triple threat in the jumps.

But there is another reason the three have redshirted this season. The 2013 outdoor Big East Championships take place at Rutgers, and each of them would like nothing more than to go out in front of the home faithful.

“The thought is since we’ve given so much to the school through track and field and our academics, that [Mulqueen] wants to reward us by letting us compete in the Big East [Championship] in 2013,” Bergo said. “He wants us to go out at home, with a win, in front of our home crowd so everyone can see us and see our accomplishments as Rutgers student-athletes.”

But before that happens, there is still business to take care of in Boston.

T H E D A I LY TA R G U M

SPORTS

PA G E 1 6

MARCH 2, 2012

Neighborhood friends face off in season finale

BY TYLER BARTO SPORTS EDITOR

Maurice Harkless sat harmlessly Oct. 19 at Big East Media Day. The St. John’s freshman had no business being at the New York Athletic Club yet, MEN’S BASKETBALL but there he was.

The Red Storm ST. JOHN’S AT graduated nearly RUTGERS, their entire roster, TOMORROW, 8 P.M. and the standout from Queens, the hometown kid, appeared the likely fit to speak on the team’s behalf. He talked, quietly at first, about expectations.

Then a familiar name popped up.

“Mike Poole got a lot better,” Harkless said. “I think he’s going to do big things this year.”

Harkless would know more than most.

The 6-foot-6 forward, a frontrunner for Big MIKE East Rookie of the Year, grew up with POOLE Poole, a sophomore guard on the Rutgers men’s basketball team.

Their journey began in a gritty neighborhood less than 20 miles away from where Harkless fielded questions.

The South Jamaica section of Queens raised NBA players Rafer Alston and Lamar Odom, among others. Harkless and Poole tried to earn their own attention, living within a two-minute walk of each other.

They still talk a couple of times a week, maybe even four or five times a day, Poole said.

“I knew this kid’s talent. We’ve been working out with each other since we were little,” he said of Harkless. “I knew him before he had a name. He’s just always been this talented.”

Poole began his high school career at Rice in Harlem, but transferred to St. Benedict’s Prep in Newark. There, head

SEE FINALE ON PAGE 13

CONOR ALWELL / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Junior forward Dane Miller scored a team-high 16 points last night against Villanova, including a pair of dunks that revitalized the Rutgers crowd at the Louis Brown Athletic Center, where Rutgers upset the Wildcats last season in dramatic fashion.

First-half deficit proves too much for rally

BY JOEY GREGORY ASSOCIATE SPORTS EDITOR

As the clock ticked past one minute in regulation, the Rutgers men’s basketball team had nearly crawled out of a deficit that stood at 19 MEN’S BASKETBALL points at its VILLANOVA 77 largest, and cut it to only 3.

RUTGERS 71 But this time , former Rutgers

for ward Jonathan Mitchell was not around for a game-winning 4-point play and the Scarlet Knights were forced to foul. They ended just shor t of the win, falling 77-71, after a furious second-half comeback.

Junior Dane Miller led the attack, finishing with 16 points, with four of those points coming on dunks that revitalized the team as well as the infamous Louis Brown Athletic Center crowd.

He was one of four Knights to score in double digits — freshmen Myles Mack (15 points), Eli Car ter (14) and Jerome

Seagears (11) were the others.

But head coach Mike Rice was more concerned with the lack of effort in the first half.

“It was hard to get them out of the clouds, having won only one game in the last 30 days,” he said. “You’d think they’d be hungr y for another one.”

The Wildcats (12-17, 5-12) managed four double-digit scorers, as well.

SEE RALLY ON PAGE 13

RU hopes to rejuvenate team in Big East playoffs

BY JOEY GREGORY ASSOCIATE SPORTS EDITOR

For the Rutgers women’s basketball team, its 17-3 start to the season does not matter. Its subsequent five-game slide and 19.8-point average margin of WOMEN’S BASKETBALL defeat during that streak do not matRUTGERS AT ter. Its four-game BIG EAST CHAMPS, winning streak to end the season does TOMORROW, 8 P.M. not matter.

All that matters for the No. 23 Scarlet Knights are the four games standing between them and a Big East Championship.

Their first test will be one of two teams they beat this season in Cincinnati and Marquette, which play tonight in the first round at the XL Center.

The Golden Eagles served as Rutgers’ (21-8, 10-6) last opponent, but senior point guard Khadijah Rushdan hesitated to call that a real advantage.

“Truthfully it doesn’t matter who we play,” she said. “We’ll be able to obviously scout them, watch this game, go over things we need to improve like stopping them from shooting as many threes as they got. I guess

it definitely helps to have something to look back on.”

Part of the reason who Rutgers’ opponent is does not matter is because the Big East is very competitive and owns six ranked teams and two others that received votes.

That high level of competition is not lost on the Knights, especially head coach C. Vivian Stringer.

“The Big East is an unforgiving conference,” she said. “St. John’s is a very good team, and they demonstrated that with what they did to UConn. Notre Dame is a very good team, and they demonstrated that with what they’ve done to everybody.”

Rutgers’ No. 6 seed for the conference tournament only reinforces that notion.

The Knights’ season has gone exactly as it should on paper. Their six Big East losses came courtesy of the top five seeds while they beat the 10 teams seeded below them.

But Stringer thinks the conference standings are not what they should be.

“There was a time when Georgetown wasn’t of note to us. There was a time when St. John’s was not of note to us. There was a time when West Virginia was not of note to us,” she said.

“Now all of a sudden, we’re the odd man out look-

SEE PLAYOFFS ON PAGE 13

ALEX VAN DRIESEN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Senior guard Nikki Speed drives past a Marquette defender. The Miami, Fla., native notched a season-high six assists in the 69-58 victory over the Golden Eagles.