The Daily Targum 05-06-2013

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Serving the Rutgers community since 1869. Independent since 1980.

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RUTGERS UNIVERSITY—NEW BRUNSWICK

MONDAY, MAY 6, 2013

ONLINE AT DAILYTARGUM.COM

U. course looks at homophobic language, opens student dialogue BY TAYLOR LONDINO CORRESPONDENT

Brendon Votipka created a new “Research in the Disciplines” writing course at the University this semester, titled “That’s So Gay,” to open up a dialogue about the implications of casual homophobic language in society. Votipka, a par t-time lecturer for the School of Ar ts and Sciences Writing Program, said he began developing the course when Trinyan Mariano, who oversees the Research in the Disciplines courses as assistant director in the Writing Program, asked him to pitch an interesting course. “In a way, designing this course was a dream come true,” he said. “I’m passionate about facilitating conversation about queer issues and am thankful to work for a state university that encourages diverse conversations in the classroom.” The first phase of the course, Votipka said, analyzed diverse sources from author Byr ne Fone’s “Homophobia: A Histor y” to Macklemore and R yan Lewis’s song “Same Love” to dissect homophobic language and labels. Many words and phrases used to describe non-normative sexualities have changed and evolved especially in recent histor y, he said. Votipka said the word “homophobic” has been used SEE

DIALOGUE ON PAGE 5

METRO

IN BRIEF BY JULIAN CHOKKATTU NEWS EDITOR

Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan has resigned to take a position in the state Attorney General’s Office, according to mycentraljersey.com. Andrew Carey, Chief of the Narcotics Unit in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Newark, will be sworn in Monday as acting Middlesex County prosecutor. The resignation comes after two weeks of allegations against Kaplan of racism, discrimination, political retaliation, nepotism and questionable relationships. Kaplan was not available for comment at press time.

Sameen Jalal, a DREAM Rider, is participating in DREAM4TK’s initiative to raise $1 million for the Embrace Kids Foundation by biking from New Brunswick to Orlando in the summer. The trip is expected to take 25 days, beginning July 28 and ending August 25. PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY JULIAN CHOKKATTU, NEWS EDITOR

DREAM Riders to bike to Fla. for charity BY JULIAN CHOKKATTU NEWS EDITOR

It’s not biking 60 to 80 miles a day from New Brunswick to Orlando that has Sameen Jalal worried — it’s jumping out of a plane with his fellow “DREAM Riders” at the end of the trip to celebrate their accomplishment. Jalal, a School of Arts and Sciences senior, is one of four other bikers that will ride to Florida as a part of the DREAM4TK initiative to raise $1 million for the Embrace Kids Foundation. “The moment when I heard about [the initiative] to when I

joined was about a half a second,” he said. “I always wanted to go on an epic bike ride.” The idea for DREAM4TK and the ride came in November, when a member had a sister who was diagnosed with cancer and realized nonmedical bills are what weighed the most on his family, Jalal said. The Embrace Kids Foundation helps families that have children diagnosed with cancer and blood disorders with their nonmedical needs, he said. “You wouldn’t really think of the nonmedical needs of the families as much when you hear someone has

cancer,” Jalal said. “They help with the day-to-day things, and that’s something the Rutgers community loves.” Other organizations, such as Rutgers University Dance Marathon, raised just over half a million dollars for the Embrace Kids Foundation last month, and along with them, DREAM4TK is looking to raise $1 million before the year ends. “The members of DREAM4TK are all leaders from different organizations on campus, they have proved themselves and are amazing people to work with,” he said.

“I’ve learned so much in the past few weeks.” The initiative has raised $11,475 so far — mostly from personal donations. Their purpose is to raise money from companies willing to sponsor the bike ride, said Ricky Trent, a DREAM rider. Trent, who planned the route, said the riders plan to hit Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Baltimore, Richmond, ride along the coast of North Carolina, Charleston, pass Jacksonville, Fla., get through Daytona Beach, and finally stop in Orlando. SEE

RIDERS ON PAGE 4

More than 1,000 flock for U.’s first Color Me RU BY JUSTINA OTERO CORRESPONDENT

Students, faculty and staff gathered in all-white attire this Friday with plans to be saturated with six different colors for the University’s first Color Me RU run on Livingston campus. The University’s Recreation department decided to have the run after noticing the vast amount of students’ requests, said Emilie Buckley, building manager for University Recreation. Among student organizations, students, faculty and staff, 1,000 runners registered for Friday’s event. The three-mile run consisted of six different color zones where volunteers threw $5,000’s worth of colored cornstarch on the runners throughout the course. “At [Rutgers Recreation] we try to do things that are popular and things that are a part of pop culture at that time,” said Buckley, a

Rutgers Business School senior. “This has been successful across the nation as well as various colleges, so we wanted to just do something that students liked.” Anne Finetto, fitness coordinator for Rutgers Recreation, said because of the run’s popularity, the department wanted to make it more accessible for the students. “We wanted to offer something that was affordable because the color runs aren’t cheap and a lot of the time you have to go to New York City or travel 45 minutes … to get to the run,” Finetto said. “There were many students who wanted to bring it here.” She said the online registration filled up before the department began advertising the run throughout campus. “The kids wanted this type of event, so that’s why we really decided SEE

COLOR ON PAGE 7

Students participated in the University’s first Color Me RU run Friday on Livingston campus. More than 1,000 runners registered for the event. YESHA CHOKSHI, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

VOLUME 144, ISSUE 123 • UNIVERSITY ... 3 • SCIENCE ... 8 • ON THE WIRE ... 10 • OPINIONS ... 12 • DIVERSIONS ... 14 • CLASSIFIEDS ... 16 • SPOR TS ... BACK


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