the Observer

Volume 75 | Issue 21 THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF RUTGERS-NEWARK February 23, 2011

NeWs

oPINIoN

lIFe & leIsure

sPorTs

New faces and perspectives of immigration

Thirty years: Thompson Wright lecture draws crowds

Pickin’, by Lauren Kelley (1999) featured in the promotional poster for the Beauty and the Black Body: History, Aesthetics, and Politics lecture.

By Thomas Hahnmanaging editor

For the past 31 years, the Marion Thompson Wright Lecture Series has taken place in the Paul Robe-son Campus Center on the campus

of Rutgers-Newark to commemorate black history month.

“The Marion Thompson Wright Lec-ture Series is a civic ritual without peer,” said Dr. Clement Price, the event’s co-founder. “It is also a prominent symbol of public engagement, public scholarship at a very high level, and community endear-ment to lifelong learning.”

This is an event that, according to Dr. Price, meshes nicely with the Newark com-munity and the city’s history.

“There are not many cities that can connect the dots like Newark,” Price said.

Rutgers-Newark has been named the most diverse university campus in the na-tion by both US News and World Report, for 14 consecutive years, and Forbes which conducted their own survey last year. The Marion Thompson Wright Lecture is an

important piece of the university’s tradi-tion of diversity, according to the mayor of Newark, Cory Booker.

“Rutgers was not founded as an elit-ist institution breathing the rarified air of academia, but a university for the people,” Booker said.

The topic of this year’s lecture, which took place this past Saturday in the Essex Room, was Beauty and the Black Body: History, Aesthetics, and Politics. The Mar-ion Thompson Wright Lecture was given by Deborah Willis, a professor of photog-raphy at New York University.

Using photographs, Willis’s lecture examined the role of African Americans and the way in which their presence has helped shape the perception of beauty in popular culture and art.

The images ranged in subject from celebrities like Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) to average people on the street going about their daily lives.

See LECTURE, Page 3

Students evaluation important for teachers, not so much for students

By Steven Albanostaff Writer

The “Crossing the BLVD” exhibit taking place in the Paul Robeson Gallery at the Robeson Campus Center, by Warren Lehrer and

Judith Sloan, gives faces to these stories and humanizes these journeys. The gal-lery gives reason to where we could never put it. Everything about your perspective of immigration in the United States will change, not necessarily for the better or for the worse, but it will change.

“Crossing the BLVD”’s subjects all come from Queens, New York which, as Warren states, “Is the most diverse place in the United States according to the cen-sus.” It is there that they collected stories of immigrants; some came for freedom and safety and others for a better life – for a life.

A unique attribute about this project is its use of sound. With many of the por-traits and pictures accompanies a sound box which contains more involved and personal stories of the people you are staring at. You will hear with her own voice Joanna retell how she thought coming to America was supposed to be a vacation and how it ended up being a permanent one. She recalls her endless disappointment at her home; every-thing was so much smaller and dirtier than in any movie she saw. The culmination of all the different media brings the gallery into an almost interactive art, and it is as if you were actually having a conversation with all of its subjects.

The story of Camilo and Juan Carlos is one you will encounter. They are a cou-ple who sought asylum in the United States from Colombia for homosexual persecu-tion, and their story sheds light on the dif-ficulties of obtaining asylum in the United States.

Sloan stated, “It’s all about survival. These people ran to save their own lives. To live, and it was difficult.” There is also Marianna and Miguel, Mexican immigrant that crossed the border to Mexico to have a family. They tell us about the struggles that average Americans take for granted and would never imagine having to live through.

See EXHIBIT, Page 3

By Allison Baldwinexecutive editor

While professors and admin-istrators say that having stu-dents complete the Student In-

structional Rating Surveys (SIRS) provides them with feedback on their teaching styles, some Rutgers students say they see no benefit for themselves.

“Filling out the evalua-tions provides me with no real direct benefit,” said sopho-more, psychology major Erica Garcia who says she fills out the evaluations every other se-mester at best. “The feedback I give would not benefit me, but would benefit future students.”

The SIRS, which have been distributed to students through their Rutgers email accounts since early 2010, are similar to the paper ones used through-out 2007-2009. The surveys focus on such things as teacher preparedness, fairness and communication style.

The survey allows students to rate their professors on each of these aspects

using a number scale ranging from one to five. In addition, there is a separate section for students to write their own comments.

For professors the survey results provide comparisons between classes in the same department. Evaluations are also

used when considering teachers for tenure and promotions.

“When you have multiple professors teaching the same class, the surveys give you some comparison,” said Jack Lynch, a professor in the English department. “The surveys score all sections of the same class, all other courses on the same level and all the courses in the department. The scores

show how professors stand relative to one another.”

However, with evaluations moving online, professors have seen a decrease in student participation. The number has gone down from about 90 percent to 50 percent.

“Under the new online sys-tem there is a very small percent-age of students participating, less than 50 percent,” said Elizabeth Hull, chair of the political sci-ence department.

“The recent drop in par-ticipation has made professors nervous,” said Lynch. “When the evaluations were handed out in class and done on paper, we could assume that those who showed up to class that day filled them out. With the new online system, we can only hope that these numbers are as reliable as the last numbers.”

When asked about having the evalu-ations online, students said they were more apt to complete them if they were on paper and handed out in class.

See EVALUATION, Page 3

The Observertherutgersobserver.com freePlease recycle after reading

“Under the new online system there is a very small percentage

of students participating, less than 50 percent.”

- Elizabeth Hull, chair of Political Science Department

Special report: campus safety information

p. 2

Anthony drama unfolds during high ranking All-Star Weekend.

p. 11

Music surprises at the Grammys

p. 7

More time on Facebook doesn’t necessarily mean poor grades

p. 5

PAGE 2 News February 23, 2011

New Jersey’s state employee unions are organizing a rally on Friday at the Statehouse to show their support for the

workers that are rallying in Wisconsin. Protesters in Wisconsin are currently demonstrating against the Wisconsin governor’s plan to eliminate collective bargaining for most employees. All the Democratic legislatures in Wisconsin have fled the state to avoid voting on the piece of legislation.

Eric LeGrand, the injured Rutgers football player, made his first public appearance last week-end at a fundraiser held at the

Rutgers New Brunswick’s Louis Brown Athletic Center. The injured LeGrand was first paralyzed from the neck down during a football game against Army held on Oct. 16.

A man has been accused of going on a criminal rampage on Feb. 20 when he smashed windows, doors and display cases at

Newark’s Gateway complex. The office complex is located at the intersection of Mulberry and Market Streets near the Prudential Center.

Corporal Jackson Givens of the United States Army Air Force’s 99th Pursuit Squadron, more commonly known as the Tuske-

gee Airman, who became among the first black men to serve in combat for modern American military was awarded on Feb. 20, the Congressional Gold Medal, one of the highest civilian awards in the United States.

The Texas State Legislature is currently considering a law that would allow students and profes-sors to carry concealed firearms

on college campuses. According to the bill, anyone over 21 years of age that passes a background check and a 10-hour course would be allowed to carry a gun.

The Uniformed Firefighters Asso-ciation of New York claims that staffing cuts to the Fire Depart-ment of New York is leading to

slower response times. Budget problems in New York City have led to various fire stations to be closed.

Michigan State education offi-cials have orders that Detroit Public Schools have to create an emergency plan to cut

half of Detroit schools. Reports claim that high school class sizes might go up to 60 students to consolidate operations in the schools.

The recent unrest in the Middle East has lead to Libya to be launched into unrest as the 41-year old regime of Muammar

Gaddafi has been called into question as Libyan youth are now revolting. Reports that Gaddafi fled to Venezuela have been denied as Gaddafi has made appearances on Libyan State television.

President Barack Obama and wife Michelle Obama are reportedly not invited to the Wedding of Prince William and fiancé Cathe-

rine Middleton that is scheduled for April 29. David and Victoria Beckham and Sir Elton John are among the invited.

All news briefs come from nj.com, wnyc.org, cbsnews.com, bbc.co.uk/news and latimes.com

News Briefs

Police BlotterTheft

A person reported on Feb. 15, that their unattended property had been stolen from 180 University Ave. The value of the be-

longings is estimated to be $330.00.

TheftAn automobile theft was reported on Feb. 15 at the intersection of James Street and Nesbitt Avenue. The owner of the vehi-cle reported that their window had been smashed and property was taken from it. The stolen property was estimated to be

$2,770.000.

Correction:In “Welcome home, Zain” published Feb. 16, Dr. Wendell Hollbrook was cited as chair of the Department of African American and African Stud-ies. He is no longer the chair. That position is currently held by Sterling Bland.

Students more cautious on ‘Thirsty Thursday’Attack at frat has party-goers on alert

By Joshua HoyosNews Editor

Following the attack on a Fairleigh Dickenson University student in front of a fraternity house on Feb. 11, the security strengthened on the stretch of fraternity houses on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard more commonly known

as Fraternity Row. The incident occurred at 2:50 am in front of the Iota Kappa

Phi house located at 277 Martin Luther King Boulevard when a Fairleigh Dickenson University student was stabbed in the torso with a box cutter several times, according to Michael Lattimore, Chief of Rutgers-Newark Police.

“Something happened inside that fraternity house that spilled outside. In the course of the altercation, two students were cut with what was believed to be a box cutter,” said Lattimore.

Iota Kappa Phi was originally associated with New Jersey Institute of Technology but they lost their recognition as a fraternity and were “banned or removed from campus” according to NJIT’s website.

According to Lattimore, there is a joint patrol between NJIT and Rutgers Police occurs on Thursday nights during which Fraternity Row and the surrounding areas are patrolled. NJIT police, including the police detail designated for fraternities, were not patrolling the area because their shift had ended according to Lattimore.

NJIT Police declined an interview request and did not release any statement in regards to the incident or Thursday night security.

Christopher Alburquerque, a freshman Criminal Justice student was at the fraternity on Feb. 11 when the student was attacked. He stated that the student who was stabbed had no clue of the incident until he saw the blood on his hand outside the fraternity.

“I am worried about getting cut now,” said Alburquerque, looking back on the incident, but stated he is not afraid of fraternity security, as he was leaving on Thursday night to go out.

Yahne Sneed, a freshman majoring in Social Work, spoke about how her and her friends protect themselves on Thursday nights by staying together and coming home early.

“I am afraid of going [out] but we come back early and watch each other,” stated Sneed.

Genevieve Sumski-Famoso, the Assistant Dean at the Office

of Student Life and Leadership stresses that students should look

out for other fellow students while going out on Thursday nights.

“I hope Rutgers students will look at this incident and think

twice about how late are they going to stay out, how many friends

they are with, and making sure they are walking in groups,” stated

Sumski.

Fluctuating crime brings campus safety into question

By Nadia KadriStaff writer

In the past two weeks, students of Rutgers Newark have been hit with crime alerts about incidents on or close to campus. In light of such episodes,

two questions can be asked: has crime and danger at R-N increased in the past few years? And do students feel less safe?

Based on findings from the Rutgers Newark Department of Public Safety’s website, statistics from years 2007-2009 show that crime on campus has fluctuated. While dreadful incidents such as murder and rape/attempted rape have not been reported from ‘07-’09, robbery and aggravated assault have increased in 2009 and burglary and car theft have decreased. Yet, car theft remains the highest crime being reported at R-N, with 12 incidents in 2009, down from 23 in 2007. There have also been five incidents reported on other sexual offenses, such as, rape/attempted rape by an acquaintance and forcible fondling in 2007 and 2008. Since the statistics of year 2010 have not yet been submitted, we cannot infer if last year followed the same trend of crime from 2007-2009.

When asked if students have felt a change in safety, the majority said they’ve always been cautious and recent news has been an extra push, while new students expressed more concern.

Lenny Tapia, a transfer who began last semester, says he’s always been street-smart from the get-go.

“Based on the overall reputation of Newark, I have been apprehensive from the beginning, but now I am a little bit more cautious. Crime takes only a couple of seconds of vulnerability, but you just need a little bit of common sense.”

Lenny says we should all be observant of people around us.

Senior Cortez Charles says that as a previous resident of Newark, he knows crime occurs is always vigilant.

“I try to stay with my female friends when it’s late, just to make sure they are safe,” he said, “As a man, I’m cautious but truthfully, I have more concerns for my female peers.”

Female students have indeed expressed more concern for current incidents and safety than males. Freshmen and recent transfer female students voiced more worry than students who have been on campus longer.

When asked about her feeling toward change in safety, freshman Tanya Rama said, “I felt much more safe last semester. Now, not so much.”

Likewise, freshman Denisse Arevalo says, “Recent incidents have made me want to transfer now,” expressing that she originally wanted to go the New Brunswick campus. “Thankfully, I don’t have a lot of night classes like last semester so it’s not bad and I stay around my friends.” Denisse said she has contemplated on buying pepper spray.

Senior Albertine Francilme says she’s careful and has her preferences.

“This is my second semester at Rutgers. I’m from Britain and I’ve heard a lot about Newark. I park my car on the street with meters. I don’t like to park on the deck.”

But, Senior Alexandra Vinque says that despite the concerns of safety, she still feels safe. “I think safety concerns are everywhere, you don’t have to go to school in Newark just to make sure you are taking precautions to be safe,” she said. “People should be observant and shouldn’t put themselves in unusual situations. I’m not scared but I’ve always had pepper spray on my keychain! ”

Despite increased concern about recent incidents, most students have a general consensus about taking an extra step to stay safe now.

“I felt much more safe last semester.

Now, not so much.”- Tanya Rama, freshman

1) Don’t talk and walk. Being on your phone makes you a bigger target because you’re not paying attention to your surroundings. It also makes it much easier for someone to run by and snatch your phone. Wait till you get to your destination to make your call, and if it can’t wait, then just walk faster!

2) Don’t be out after dark. Lis-ten to what your parents always told you and try to avoid walking around at night. Evening classes sometimes make this impossible, so if you can’t help it, walk with friends or call for a police escort. There’s strength in numbers.

3) Report suspicious behavior. If you see someone or some-thing that doesn’t look right, tell someone. Call the police, tell you professor – don’t just ignore it. Prevention is better than a cure, and by making a quick report you could prevent a crime from hap-pening.

4) Keep valuables in pockets. Girls walk around with huge handbags, which are easy to grab and are tempting to criminals. Keeping your phone, money and cards in your pocket also makes you less reluctant to hand over your bag to someone with a weapon, to prevent them from harming you.

5) Know how to get help. There are campus phones and blue police buttons in various loca-tions – it will help to know where they are. In the case of an emer-gency, being aware of how to alert the Rutgers Police is price-less. Nobody wants to be in a bad situation, but being prepared can prevent it from getting worse.Compiled by Naina Kamath

Five tips to stay safe on

campus

Crime and Safety at R-N

Photo from Google Maps

Iota Kappa Phi house, the location of the assault

february 23, 2011 News PAGE 3

Social Justice Symposium challenges alienation of divergent beliefs as ‘immoral’

By Sandra GrossettContributor

If one’s basic human right is denied, one tends to call out for social justice. Like Thomas Jefferson, in his Declaration of Independence, said, “Our unalienable rights are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., civil rights leader, once said social justice sprung from both those who believed in freedom and in a free society and those who battled areas in their lives where such liberties were denied.

Transformational change begins in the working of social justice. At a Social Justice Symposium honoring Black History Month on Feb. 11 at the Rutgers-Newark’s Paul Robeson Campus Center, attendee, Gail Cummings, a Criminal Justice major interpreted that, “If you are accustomed to seeing actions by others near to you a certain manner, then you wouldn’t really care much how other people consider it to suit themselves, mainly, if that person or those persons do not fit within your sphere of what human alliance is.”

“It wouldn’t fit your purpose to be in someone else’s shoes,” said speaker Bryan Epps, a graduate student from Rutgers New Brunswick and a Public Policy Analyst for the city of New York. “You are not that person and you

wouldn’t care whether his or hers interpretation counts.” “There was hardly anything one would do to make

a difference for people of varying moral standing, whether good or bad”, Epps continued. “The world of language becomes offensive to some, who think, ‘that’s immoral’ and in every sense should well enlighten those responsible to pull up their pants.”

He clarified with cases of citizens who wear their pants below their waste bands; however, to the annoyance of another catching a glimpse. Yet, he refers that many, in applying social justice in this way, would only learn through punishment because as was discussed, what they are asking or breeding on themselves, only to be thrown behind bars.

To violate one’s citizen right doesn’t make well social transformation change nor does make of it seemingly balanced. No first or second person in news articles. You are going to please some while, at the same time, hurt others’ pride, even their dignity. So we allow society to play itself out in the grievances of things each of us want and for some don’t want to happen to us. Instances of these happen on the street corner, in our schools or at homes of families among other social settings.

Ethics would state our social justice is governed by the Amendments, freedom of speech the very first and our laws. What most lawyers use to protect clients in a court proceeding. Not necessarily the case, for social justice

clarified by the speaker meant, how we conduct ourselves, live our lives in the face of others in our society.

R-N is populated with young people who although seem willing to educate themselves to be responsible career oriented humans are not typically the same in every aspect.

Angela Vena, Assistant Director from the Office of Student Life and Leadership felt “differences might affect one’s sexuality, study, dietary, religious preferences etc. and when students feel their right to prefer is critiqued by a dominant or subordinate’s placed over the individual’s right, they tend to ‘speak out’ with a social justice record.”

Some might complain, “My neighbor doesn’t love me because of my complexion, because I’m not an elitist, or because I am too poor in the backwards of society to be considered a University Grad or even an upright student on this campus.

Even the use of ethnic slurs becomes a prejudged, whether psychologically, or verbally even physically, however, they are at times offensive. They exist mainly in our communities where students become so individualistic, rapping with a fashion than more a real social cause.

To be aware of discriminatory instances is to interact with others from a diverse alliance, our social indifference, so that we may bring about some transformational change, to better understand ourselves how to collaborate.

EVALUATIONcontinued from Page 1

“The effect of the evaluations varies all over the place,” said Lynch. “There is always talk about students giving great evaluations for the easy teachers. At least in the English department we take the free form comments very seriously. We live for the comments that say the class was difficult but they learned a lot and sink for the ones that say it was the easiest class ever.”

Hull adds. “Evaluations are

essential. But we also need to focus on teachers being fair to students, how they convey the material, and if they are updated with the latest scholarly work from their fields.”

Administrators also agree with this perspective. “Students have to remember that the evaluations are never used alone and that they are a way for students to provide direct feedback. Students should take them seriously,” said John Gunkel, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education.

EXHIBITcontinued from Page 1

It is about struggle, heartbreak, and survival. What these people did to reach American and their journeys are each unique and poignant.

Sloan says, “Crossing the BLVD is a metaphor for everything they need to cross: language barriers, cultural bar-riers, everything.” But now, what does it mean to you?

“Crossing the BLVD” will leave the Paul Robeson Galleries on Apr. 6.

LECTUREcontinued from Page 1

There was even a photograph of a runaway slave. That photograph was presented with an advertisement written by the slave owner requesting the slave be found and returned. The ad detailed the woman’s role in the household, where the woman had last been seen, and where she had potentially escaped from. (The ad said she may have been lured away.) The ad described the woman as “quite good looking.”

The lecture was given in conjunction with her exhibit at the Newark Museum called Posing Beauty: African American Images from the 1890s to the Present. The exhibit will run until Apr. 28, 2011.

The Marion Thompson Wright Lecture Series receives sponsorships from the Rutgers Institute on Ethnicity, Culture, and the Modern Experience, the Federated Department of History, R-N, NJIT, and the New Jersey Historical Society/Department of State.

The lecture series gets its name from Marion Thompson Wright, a native of East Orange, who became the first professional trained female historian in the United States. Wright, an African American, attended Barringer High School in Newark before graduating from Howard University with honors.

Next year’s lecture is tentatively titled Health, Medicine, and the Black Body.

Rutgers Observer Office Hours: PRCC 318Monday: Staff Meeting 11:30-1:00

Tuesday:9:00-10:30, 4:30-6:00

Wednesday: 11:30-1:00,2:30-4:00

Thursday: 10:00-1:00, 2:30-5:00

Friday: 11:00-1:00

PAGE 4 Opinions February 23, 2011

The Voice of Rutgers-NewarkRutgers, The State University of

New Jersey Paul Robeson Campus Center350 Dr. Martin Luther King, Blvd. Newark, New Jersey 07102-1898Main office: (973) 353-5023

Editor-in-ChiefDiego M. Ortiz

managing editorThomas Hahn

LAYOUT DESIGN EditorMonica De Leon

news editorAllison Baldwin

sports editorCamilo Brun

opinion editorHalema Wali

life & Leisure editorCaroline McLaughlin

multiMedia EditorChristian Torres-Rossi

business managerOmar Khan

staff writersLaquay Weekes Calvin OkwuegoMauricio Moreno

Ramona AlcantaraHassan Muhammad

Frances PerezTricia SerrantonioBreanne McCarthyBimpe FageyimboRodolfo Cardenas

Farbod RajaiJoshua Hoyos

CONTrIbUTOrS

advisorGeorge Garneau

Letters to the editor and Opinions:

[email protected]

News desk: observernews@

gmail.com

To advertise with The Observer please contact

Omar Khan at

[email protected]

The views expressed in the Opinion section, with ex-ception of the main Edito-rial, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Observer.

THE OBSERVER

The Voice of Rutgers-NewarkRutgers, The State University of New

Jersey Paul Robeson Campus Center

350 Dr. Martin Luther King, Blvd. Newark, New Jersey 07102-1898

Editor-in-ChiefDiego M. Ortiz

Executive editorAllison Baldwin

managing editorThomas Hahn

LAYOUT DESIGN EditorMonica De Leon

news editorJoshua Hoyos

sports editorCamilo Brun

opinions editorZarna Patel

life & Leisure editorCaroline McLaughlin

multiMedia EditorChristian Torres-Rossi

business managerOmar Khan

staff writersAlvin Anarah

Desiree HadleyEnzo DomingoFarbod Rajaei

Gabriela BarkhoHassan Muhammad

Kelvin PauLaQuay Weekes

Luis MercadoMatthew RozsaMaya JohnsonNadia Kadri

Naina KamathPatricia Serrantonio

Rudy CardenasShashwat DaveSteven Albano

Yaroslav Imshenetsky

advisorGeorge Garneau

Letters to the editor and Opinions:

[email protected]

News desk: observernewscopy

@gmail.com

To advertise with The Observer please contact

Omar Khan at

[email protected]

THE OBSERVER

The goal of The Observer editori-al pages is to present the diversity of views of all the R-N communi-ty, especially the students whose student fees support this newspa-per, on timely and relevant top-ics. Letters (50-100 words) and essays (600-800 words) are ac-cepted for publication at the dis-cretion of the editor and/or his/her designees. Unsolicited manu-scripts are not returned. Editors reserve the right to edit for space

and clarity.

Picture by Spc. Roland Hale of the U.S. Army

Budget cuts: Education or Defense?By Naina Kamath

Staff Writer

Recently the term ‘budget cut’ has become commonplace. In both the public and private sector, thou-sands of people have lost their

jobs, so home life has involved major bud-get cutting.

Education funding has dwindled, pre-venting many students from getting finan-cial aid.

While families try hard to make ends meet and students struggle to pay term bills, the United States Department of Defense is not only protesting budget cuts, but de-manding more money.

The Army, Navy and Air Force will lose $26 billion if spending levels stay the same as in 2010. In essence, if they don’t get more money, they will lose a lot of it.

Where will these billions tax dollars go? Among other things, to what are known as ‘killer-hunter drones’.

These fighter jets, controlled by per-sonnel sitting comfortable chairs in Nevada, are covered in weapons, surveillance equip-ment and are capable of a lot of damage.

The newest MQ-9 Reaper, part of the Predator drone series, is a lot more sophis-ticated and accurate, but with this precision comes expense.

For the United States to maintain de-fense this year, Obama recommended $531 billion to the cause in his 2011 request.

Congress has not yet passed the 2011 defense budget bill, which allocates the

funds that will be provided during the fiscal year.

So far, the Army, Navy and Air Force have received $518 billion. This is $1 billion more than 2010, yet it’s still not sufficient.

But when will it be enough? The entire country is suffering from a lack of funding.

Schools don’t have enough to function and teachers are being laid off.

Do 24 new killer hunter drones need to be deployed when children aren’t getting the education they need? Should we be al-locating extra billions of dollars to weapons and war?

Budgets for health care, services for the disabled and elderly and K-12 and high-er education faced enormous cuts in the past two years.

Over the 2011 fiscal year, the bud-gets for these areas will remain the same, if they’re not cut further.

Decreased funds in these areas lead to greater unemployment, which means a lon-ger and more severe recession.

Less benefits for the unemployed leads to a poorer average demographic, which brings up the issue of increased crime rates.

All of these factors are more im-portant than handing out new guns. Yet, unlike the military, these areas aren’t able to demand more.

Despite this rationale, some peo-ple are still in support of the army’s exuberant spending.

“It’s unacceptable that the mili-tary, in its tenth year of war, be expect-ed to absorb such budget reductions,” said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.

Actually it’s quite the contrary. After so many years, maybe it’s time to control spending.

Billions of dollars a year is no small sum, and in times when money

is short, everyone should need to cut back – the army included. War efforts are expen-sive, but are they worth more than the jobs of our teachers?

We have been fighting for so long. Effort, time and too many lives have been dedicated to this grim cause.

In some ways, this is necessary. But when it comes to the point that artillery is being chosen over children, something needs to change.

Cellphone providers:Picking out the worst from the best

By Hoda ElamirContributor

Can you hear me now?”“No! I barely have any

serv—“Service. Seldom have I spent

a day at Rutgers where a phone call wasn’t interrupted, cut off, or dropped. Yes, like many Rutgers Newark students I have faced the frustration of crappy phone service on campus.

Whether its walking aimlessly around Robeson hoping for a couple of measly bars to pop up or shaking my phone towards the sky while awkwardly pretending to wave at someone, phone troubles seem inevitable.

However, this may not always be the case for the entirety of the Rutgers commu-nity. After talking to other students with dif-ferent phone networks and attaining a gen-eral knowledge of which service provider legitimately deserves the title as the “fast-

est” or “most reliable,” I have discovered this: it’s sure as hell not AT&T.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my iPhone, but I love the fact that they are now accessi-ble to Verizon even more. As of now, I typi-cally have no more than a bar and a half at the following locations on campus—Smith Hall, Dana Library, the Golden Dome, Paul Robeson Campus Center, all elevators, bathrooms, lecture halls, and even my be-loved Starbucks.

I don’t know about the rest of you AT&T users, but it’s starting to get a tad frustrating.

Just the other day, someone had to lose his spot on line just to answer my text mes-sage—a message that ironically read “head-ing towards Starbucks.”

Unfortunately, terrible service has not even spared our scattered “T-mobilers.” Sophomore, Eman Salah even states, “Ugh, don’t even get me started on T-mobile. It’s the worst of the worst.”

So if AT&T and T-mobile users suffer the most how about the rest of us? Students like sophomore, Mike Kwiecinski says this much about Sprint: “Sprint? Sprint is…meh.”

However, after talking to Metro PCS user, Andrea Huerta, she claims to have “great service.”

Which provider stands their ground as the BEST? It seems Verizon continues to prevail in this seemingly never-ending bat-tle for the “title” as about 23 other Rutgers students unanimously agreed that they have yet to endure the aggravation of bad service.

Why do people, like myself, stay loyal to their “inferior” (AT&T, T-Moblie,

Sprint) phone provider? Of course it varies from person to person—financial reasons, geographical location, or maybe even pity, who knows.

But, personally, I stuck by AT&T for one reason and one reason only: the iPhone. I’ve been a true “iPhoner” since 2007.

Yes, before the iPhone even had an “app store.” So, by default, I have become an AT&T supporter. BUT WAIT?! Now that Verizon is an official carrier of the iPhone it appears as if I’m free from the aggravation embodied by AT&T, right?

Hmm, not quite…it’ll screw up our family plan.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my iPhone, but I love the fact that they

are now accessible to Verizon even

more.

Picture from Apple

The streets are paved with saltOne student’s excitement over clean sidewalks

Giant disgusting white flakes have been falling from the scalp of the sky to the landmass known as Newark, causing nothing but

pandemonium and mayhem for it’s citizens since late December.

The pleasant thoughts of actually not having to attend classes on the once highly honored President’s day, for the first time since elementary school, passed my mind as weather.com predicted sleet and snow for the state of New Jersey.

On the other hand, the unpleasant thought of making up or doing extra work for the days of classes missed left me feel-ing bitter.

And, of course, there’s always the hor-ror of having to actually slip through cam-

pus just to attend class on time.

As we know from the last couple weeks, R-N does not like to take snow days off.

So after roll-ing out of bed and groggily heading to campus, I expected nothing but slosh to be rolling down the streets and to see my peers slipping to class.

Not this time. After a number of horrible storm emer-

gencies and thousands of complaints from students, the streets of Newark are surpris-ingly clean.

Walking from University Square to Paul Robeson Campus Center post-snow-storm has never been better.

The streets were covered in course grains of salt instead of slippery sheets of ice. Behind me, was a guy in a mini bulldoz-er, driving around the twisted paths campus.

Never, in my entire one and half years of being on this campus, has the university been so attentive after a snowstorm.

To actually be able to walk, instead of slide, along the street of MLK has never been more pleasant after a snowstorm.

Whether it was the numerous calls to the Physical Plant, complaints to the uni-versity Facebook pages, articles run by The Observer, or some other cause, someone lis-tened to the voice of the students, faculty, staff, and whoever else was suffering from the slippery sidewalks.

The sheer fact that driving and walk-ing on snowy roads and sidewalks is very unsafe could have been the reason as to why there is actually some salt on the ground.

At this point, the reasons for cleaner streets are unclear, but I’m sure I’m not the only student on campus that is more grateful then surprised about being able to walk to class without the fear of slipping or getting hit by an out of control car.

Sincerely, Zarna Patel

Opinions Editor

Editorial:

Picture by Joshua Hoyos

February 23, 2011 Opinions PAGE 5

Michael LiborioArt, Senior

“No. I try my best to be careful with what I put on Facebook and try not to put anything embarrassing”

Ever regret something you put on Facebook?

Video at therutgersobserver.com

Scarlet Radarcompiled by Enzo Domingo

Laraib ShahAccounting/Biology, Senior

“Everyone has at least one picture they regret. Like an incriminating party picture or status update, every-

one is always putting up personal stuff.”

Nicole VallejoFinance, Sophomore

“No I haven’t put anything up that I regret.”

Capri JohnsonEssex County College, Raider Mart

“I have them up for everyone to see. But I have uploaded a picture and taken it down because people have told me to take it down or because there have been obnoxious comments from unwanted people.”

How life on earth will endBy Rudy Cardenas

Staff Writer

Will it be a nuclear war, an alien invasion, or a natural global disaster that will obliterate the

end of our precious life on Earth as we know it?

More precisely will it be similar to the sci-fi movies we’ve watched like the presently memorable films 2012, 28 Days Later, War of the Worlds, or The Day after Tomorrow?

Each movie presents a power-ful suggestion whether it be scien-tific, apocalyptic, or the human battle against extraterrestrial beings.

Logically, a common philo-sophical answer to Earth’s longev-ity is the fact that everything created must come to an end since no living things or entities, except time and space, are ever finite.

In the same token, life will nev-er seem to cease if history has proven to repeat itself over and over. At most – natural disasters and earth’s rocks

turning and all that good stuff will wipe things out, including humans.

But like most movie endings, human life prevails; it will eventually repair itself and just start over with the survivors, plants, animals, and

humans alike. Another common scientific the-

ory is that when the sun’s life ends, human life will end with it. Since the Earth’s inhabitants are vital to the

sun’s energy, life will deplete and naturally die out.

By then we will probably mi-grate to other planets. Another theory might be the conjecture from Resi-dent Evil or the 2001: A Space Odys-

sey plot: we invent an out of control viral disease or computer brain that is out to kill living species.

In other words, we can accidently kill our-selves with the absolute use of technology. We can definitely, and are every day closer to creating a computer with artificial intelligence that may over-power us one day.

How ever the form of Earth’s destruction, if Judgment Day is ever to come, we shall be pre-

pared to endure any intergalactic and global wars, earthquakes, or deadly diseases that come our way. It is our duty as humans to survive and pro-long our essence of life.

Another common scien-tific theory is that when the sun’s life ends, hu-

man life will end with it.

Facebook does not stand for Failure

By Allison BaldwinExecutive Editor

I want to communicate with my family, my friends and the rest of the world. So, how do I do it? I use Facebook of course. Gone are the days of talking on

the phone, of that voice – to - voice conversation between two people. After a long day of classes, (one full of texting no doubt), I don’t go back to my room and call my best friends on the phone, I Facebook them.

My computer is set to Face-book while I do homework, essays, and even my articles for the newspa-per. Facebook has become a second nature to the extent that having the website open on my computer during homework is normal. While on Face-book, other task can be completed, and completed well.

However, a research study con-ducted at Ohio State University found that students who use Facebook spend less time studying and have lower cu-

mulative grade point averages. According to the study those

students who have a Facebook ac-count spend one to five hours study-ing per week, while those who do not have an account spend 11 to 15 hours studying.

But does the amount of study-ing being done solely depend on the amount of time spent on Facebook?

I don’t think so. And neither do students at Rutgers-Newark.

Workload affects studying. Those who are taking more credits and harder classes are more apt to segregate time to study.

Last semester, it was crucial to deactivate my account for three weeks during the exam period because of the increased workload and being on the site would have been a distraction. Truthfully, with or without Facebook, my 3.5 GPA remained constant.

Rashmika Wesley, a senior and criminal justice major at R-N, says she is on Facebook all the time and that every time she has a break, she wants to check it.

She believes that being on Face-book constantly affects study habits. She says that because people are on it all the time, it takes away the time that could be dedicated to other things.

That students know the social networking site is a distraction but they use it anyway. When she is at home, on her computer, the first web-site she goes to is Facebook. She says that she has to tell herself to limit her time on Facebook.

However, Facebook has had an

affected me in other ways, mainly my communication style. Facebook hasn’t made it harder for me to inter-act with people; it has simply given me a quicker way to get in touch with them, a way that is easier now that people’s schedules are packed to the hilt with daily obligations.

I have never been a person who enjoyed talking on the phone, but I do so even less now that texting and Facebook have become available. Since I enjoy spending time with peo-ple in person more, it’s easier to make plans with my friends while chatting.

I don’t need to spend time talk-ing to them on the phone about the same stuff that I can talk to them about in person. Also, being online can cut down on the phone bill.

It has even made getting in touch with long distant, as well as those long lost friends from child-hood, easier.

Zobeina Mohamed, freshman biology major at R-N, said that Face-book gives her the ability to keep in touch with friends she doesn’t see often. She said that she was able to get in touch with a lot of friends she hasn’t spoken too in a long time, as far back as eleven years

“It was nice to get in touch with them and get their numbers,” she said. “We meet up sometimes now.”

Overall, I believe that Facebook has been a positive addition to our lifestyle. We need to get used to using technology more frequently and what better time than to start (or continue) than now.

Facebook’s logo.

By Monica De LeonLAyout design Editor

Last week, news broke that New York congressman Christopher Lee resigned after e-mails and a shirtless

photo leaked online. According to reports, the e-

mails and photo were sent to a wom-an in response to her Craigslist dating ad. A normal thought would be, how stupid could he be?

These kinds of scandals emerge all the time. Celebrities’ e-mails and computers get hacked. Pro-miscuous photos leak. Celebrities have even started tweeting and post-ing pictures for their fans to keep up. In a world where people are so crazed to break their privacy, why would they continue to put themselves out there?

The thing is, us “normal” people commit worse Internet crimes than public figures do. We’re just not famous, and that’s why we tend to not think about the consequences as much.

But with the billions of people on Facebook, we can be just as famous as those public figures. Companies are starting to look into their employees’ Facebooks to see what kind of character they are, and

may even look into possible employ-ees before hiring. Any incriminating posts or photos can even cost you a job.

I’ll admit, in the past, I was far too eager to post every unknown fact about myself online. I was un-ashamed with whatever was posted. If you had a certain idea about the kind of person I was, it didn’t matter. I knew who I really was. Only later did I realize that my Facebook would affect how other people saw me.

“At the time, whatever we were posting seemed like a good idea, maybe even a great idea,” said Jan-ish Kothari, 21. “But when we get the responses and the comments, we real-ize that maybe we should’ve thought twice about posting that picture or writing that status.”

Many students as they get older realize the need to be careful with what goes onto their pages.

“There have been times when I’ve been tagged in pictures and realize afterwards that I really don’t want them on my profile,” said Eunice Kepka, 18. “I have family and even my bosses added on Facebook, and sometimes those pictures don’t give off a good impression.”

These days, it’s normal to hear people talk about indecent posts on Facebook. Students can be heard talking about being tagged in pictures

from parties that would probably make their parents cringe.

Vulgar and graphic comments giving away too much information are common to see on your news feed. And while you may not be one of the people putting yourself out there, there are millions of others who are.

“I’ve put many things up that I’m embarrassed about,” said Eunice Kim, 20. “There are many old pic-tures and statuses that I regret. I try to avoid any further embarrassments by not even bothering to post stuff up on Facebook as often, especially when I’m mad.”

As much as it disgusts me now seeing how people could be so open on Facebook, at one point in my life I was guilty of the same actions. I would vent about a breakup or fight with a boyfriend, post pictures of my-self partying with friends, and my language was inappropriate at times.

These days, I’ve cleaned up. While whoever sees my Facebook does get an idea of what my personal life is like, they don’t get the whole show. I’m a little more careful about what I say, and am in the process to clear my older, not-so-decent posts and photos. Maybe I’m not famous, but I certainly don’t want to suffer the consequences of giving too much away on Facebook.

Facebook Faux Pas: Once you post, you can’t take it back

PAGE 6 Advertisement February 23, 2011

PAGE 7Life & LeisureFebruary 23, 2011

By Darren C.FrettCONTRIBUTOR

“Who the hell is Esperanza Spalding?” That was the reaction when twenty-six year old jazz singer and bassist beat out well- known hit makers like Drake, Florence +

the Machine , Justin Bieber , and Mumford & Sons for Best New Artist. Awards given at the Grammy’s have shocked people before like the 2008 Album of the Year given to Herbie Hancock. Many that night thought Amy Winehouse would receive the award, but remember that Hancock is a crossover mainstream jazz legend. But who exactly is Esperanza Spalding to receive such an honor? In reality a good handful of people do know who she is. Her biggest public performances include playing the BET awards, the Noble Peace Prize being picked to play by the president, and the Park City Jazz festival one of the biggest in the country.

Spalding’s music journey has been an interesting one. Spalding started out like other acts who’ve had to play in clubs or been discovered by someone, but instead used both her voice and bass. She started writing lyrics and compositions for the group Noise for Pretend, and other groups and acts like M. Ward, Mike Stern, Nando Michelin, and Stanley Clarke later on. She also taught music at the college she graduated from (Berklee College of Music) and came on the music scene herself in 2006. Her first album Junjo was followed by Esperanza in 2008, and her 2010 release of Chamber Music Society all steadily gained her so acclaim in the jazz world an now mainstream.

Spalding music range is what some might call “eclectic” considering her vast influences and genres in her music. Esperanza fuses jazz with a little hip-hop, R&B in her music.

Her core is jazz even though she site people like Madonna and other jazz greats like Ornette Coleman, and jazz bassist Ron Carter and Dave Holland among others as her influence. Having won the award Spalding has still kept her cool even

being threaten by Justin Bieber fans and the uproar of her achievement alike. What we can find through her success and music is to open up our ears and listen to something new. Something that music is suppose to do, open you up.

Life &Leisure Inside this section:Music.........................................page 7Fashion......................................page 8 Creative Space ..............................page 9 Sudoku......................................page 9

Arcade Fire earns Grammy with eclectic indie sound

Music: Aftermath of the Grammys

Photo from arcadefire.com

By Darren C.FrettCONTRIBUTOR

There’s nothing else we can say about Lady Gaga nowadays. The 24 year singer who wrote songs like “Eh Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)”, “Poker Face”, and “Bad Romance” had us all even more polarized and

perplexed to the point of not being able to explain where she was going with her new hit single “Born This Way”. Nobody has ever been really been able to explain her. Having been compared and called “The Next Madonna“, Lady Gaga released the single to mixed reviews even though its number one on iTunes. No doubt the song is catchy, she and critics have called it something of an early 90’s dance tune, but some have called it a rip-off of Madonna’s “Vogue” and “Express Yourself”. Now while Gaga herself said that her influences are performers like Madonna many were a little irritated when the song came out because it was suppose to be something new. Lady Gaga’s performance at the 53rd Grammy’s however left even more people scratching our heads. Why did it look like something we saw 20 years ago on the Madonna Blonde Ambition tour right down to the ponytail? Was it meant to be a rebirth? What we’ve seen from Gaga these last years have been all original ,but has she lost it, the “it factor“, and recycled the “90’s Madonna love yourself feeling” and packaged it as her own.

The “embryo” entrance, slightly jerky cum voguish dance moves, and strange by Gaga’s standards simple outfits with not so subtle, unblended horns left people wondering where is she going with this. Maybe the point was to be all over the place as in to blur the fence, the middle ground even more or even establish it even further with: a low grade performance, a hit

song, and ok avant-garde outfits during the award night. Was her point to have your heads scrambling (like eggs)?

Gaga’s point may very well be to decide what you think about her in any way but at the end of the day she’s going to be the same an extremely creative ,talented, intelligent individual. And all in all we will never really know exactly what Lady Gaga’s next move will be. In the last couple of day it seems that Lady Gaga has dare we say “humanized” herself but expressed it through alien-like features to show she was “born this way”. Who really knows, it’s all really confusing but yet so simple to others who write her off as her simply wanting attention. Her art and talent alone is meant to shock us and keep us interested and she’s done just that. Lady Gaga whether you like it or not has kept us entertained, wondering, and talking for the last four years, and you can’t deny the fact that she’s something to speak about, whether she’s going through a creativity crisis or not.

By Dana KandicSTAFF WRITER

A lot of confusion was stirred at the Grammy’s Sunday, February 13. Many fans’ expectations were not met when the Grammy was awarded to the members of Arcade Fire for the Best New

Album category.Esperanza Spalding won the Best New Artist

category over teen sensation Justin Bieber and Drake. But what shocked fans and viewers the most was award for the Best Album of the Year category. Arcade Fire, an indie rock band from Canada won the Best Album of the Year for their latest album, The Suburbs. Many people questioned who were the winners over the worldwide known artists like Eminem, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and Lady Antebellum.

“I actually voted for Eminem because I loved his new album but I was so shocked when they won,” said Laraib Shah, a Rutgers-Newark student, “I was like, ‘Who is this band?’”

Arcade Fire, a group made up of husband and wife, Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, along with Will Butler, Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury, Jeremy Gara, and Sarah Neufeld, are known for their catchy, indie rock songs.

To accompany their catchy tunes, members of the rock band are known to use a wide variety of instruments. Guitars, basses and violins to xylophones, glockenspiels and even the hurdy gurdy can be heard in their songs.

For those who think they have no clue of who Arcade Fire is, the band sang the theme song for the popular movie, Where the Wild Things Are. The trailer was constantly on television last year promoting the movie and anyone who is a big television fan heard the song at least once a day throughout the fall season.

Arcade Fire might not be popular among the students of the Newark Campus of Rutgers University because rap and hip-hop tunes prevail here. However the band is nationally and internationally known.

“When they announced Arcade Fire I was like huh? Who is that? I’ve never even heard of them,” said Mahim Shah.

For the Rolling Stone Magazine fans, Arcade Fire’s video for the song We Used to Wait (The Wilderness Downtown) was nominated as the second best video in 2010. It is unlike anything that has been done before. It’s interactive with their viewers. Google Maps is incorporated into the video. The viewer is requested to type in a desired address for a personalized show on a specific provided location. Creatively enough, the street view from Google Maps shows up in the video!

The Grammy winning rock band is going on an international tour in April through September starting at the well-known music festival, Coachella, in the United States and ending their tour in Europe.

Arcade Fire’s win proved to society that media is not always in control.

Best New Artist: Spalding’s jazz fusion beats out Beiber’s teeny-bop pop

Lady Gaga’s dramatic persona keeps her in spotlight, egg-cetera

Photo from esperanzaspalding.com

Photo from gagadaily.com

PAGE 8 Life & Leisure February 23, 2011

By Patricia SerrantonioSTAFF WRITER

Rome -- Have you been looking for the perfect pair of sunglasses? the perfect pair of vintage sunglasses?

Well, have I found the answer. From cat-eye to aviator, Giant Vintage is the ultimate sunglass website overflowing with creative spectacles. Not only does the website consist of wacky and wild shades from all decades (yes, they are authentic unless stated otherwise), but new, retro glasses as well for males and females.

They have a huge array of great clear-lensed classes for all of those who can rock “geek” chic. They also have multicolored lensed and printed lensed glasses along with unique neon and ski styles. Yet, what is best of all, each pair is rarely higher than twenty dollars.

In their most popular collection, POP!

glasses come in an array of colors and are in high demand believe it or not. They are extremely round, large glasses that flip-up diagonally, and although they take some courage to wear, they’re fun and undoubtedly interesting.

During London fashion week, street fashionistas were sporting an array of fierce sun glasses according to street camera man of style.com, Tommy Ton. He has captured several unique shots of utter fashion roaming around every fashion week. Yet, in London, POP! glasses were iconic and made an appearance.

As spring approaches, and I promise it will, new glasses of wild shapes and sizes are making appearances and if you need a small enhancement or the Gucci’s are getting too typical for you (not that there is a high chance of that), then grab a few cheap pairs from Giant Vintage at giantvintage.com.

Look out for next week and a report from Barcelona, Spain!

eeo/aa

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• ElectionsandCampaignManagement

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Our master’s degree programs offer students a strong alumni network of successful professionals and influential global thinkers who provide personal attention and career guidance. Students take advantage of New York City’s extensive resources for invaluable internships and training opportunities.

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Chic Stranger: How to find the perfect pair of glasses

Photo from giantvintage.com

Need an okay movie? ‘Just Go With It’By Monica De Leon

LAYOUT DESIGN EDITOR

When you hear about a movie plot that involves a man pretending to be in a bad marriage to get women without having to commit, you think to yourself, sleazy man flick. Now add in the fact

that he needs to find a pretend wife to divorce because he falls in love with one of these girls (who happens to be the voluptuous Brooklyn Decker), and we’ve got a plo that makes you think, what?!

That’s what you have with Just Go With It, and while the story line first had me rolling my eyes at how bad it is, I must admit I enjoyed the movie.

The film was released on Feb. 11, and stars Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston. Trailers for the film didn’t appeal much to me, and the pairing of Sandler and Aniston seemed a bit strange. Comically, they work well together, but I’m still trying to grasp their romantic chemistry.

Sandler’s humor is typical, which left me bored at times. His character is underdeveloped: he schemes his way out of

commitment to avoid getting brokenhearted but all of a sudden is willing to settle down with a younger woman he barely knows? His back-story of how he was hurt by a first “love” is mentioned in the first few minutes of the film. When his sweet side comes out later, it feels abrupt, but most moviegoers will probably overlook that fact.

Whether you’re a fan of Aniston or not, it’s hard not to like her character in this film. She’s a humble single mother who cares for others before herself and has a wit that I adore. And after Sandler’s character gives her a makeover to portray a hot ex-wife, to his shock, she’s very attractive. Her character is very genuine, and although you don’t get much of a background from her, it’s fairly easy to understand what kind of life she lives.

Decker, who plays Sandler’s blonde, big-breasted love interest in her breakout role, is so adorable it’s annoying. I’m sure the directors made her character to be that way on purpose, because there’s just no way a woman is that understanding of the situation—trying to be part of a man’s family after one date, really? Now, I know there are women who are cool with everything, but believe me when I say it’s a bit on the ridiculous

side. But of course, if her character didn’t exist, then the movie would’ve ended rather early, no?

There are many more characters to be on the look out for. The kids in the film, Bailee Madison and Griffin Gluck, are definite scene-stealers in parts of the movie. They remind me of kids I’d see on Kids Say the Darndest Things, only funnier. Also, Nicole Kidman and Dave Matthews make an appearance to add more drama to the already complicated situation, but that part of the plot I’ll leave for you to watch. Heidi Montag also makes an appearance, as a wife to a plastic surgery fiend, big surprise. That’s probably my biggest complaint about the film.

I’m not too crazy about how fast the plot moves (could ever happen in real life in such a short time?), and I can’t ignore the blatant lack of conflict that would make an epiphany for the main character much more rewarding. Also, I wish they didn’t say “Just go with it,” a bunch of times throughout the movie, but I genuinely enjoyed watching it. It made me laugh, it made me “aww” and although it was predictable, it left me happy with how it ended. It’s not the greatest film ever made, but it wasn’t a waste of time.

PAGE 9Life & LeisureFebruary 23, 2011

By Kelvin PauSTAFF WRITER

Black storm clouds brooded over the ruins of the once great metropolis. The city that had once housed millions of every race, creed, and culture was now a ghost town home to less than ten thousand. Huddled

together amongst in groups scattered across the former city, under the broken buildings, with only simple cloths to keep the rain away from their fires, they spoke rarely and quietly. Night hung over the denizens like a death shroud.

Their section of the city had been fortunate. The apocalypse that had devastated the rest of the sprawling urban landscape had merely snapped several buildings in half

here, sending the broken sections tumbling into the streets. As a result, there were several somewhat intact buildings still standing amongst a charred wasteland. A sentry came rushing down to the crowd of people and spoke quietly to a group of men. They listened, then hurriedly got to their feet and began to bring the news to the rest of the compound. A man was coming, they said. Or maybe he was something more.

Half-rusted guns were cocked and raised. Men hustled behind makeshift tables for cover. Not a soul stirred as they waited for their man. Silence settled in amongst the men, made friends with their persons. Then came the knocks. Three of them, short and sharp, and on the hidden doorway which only specifically summoned visitors were supposed to know. Nobody relaxed. Slowly, shuffling, one man reached over to a switch and pulled it down. The door section slid open, and the

remnants tensed, hundreds of coiled springs ready to slam the trap shut on any enemy.

They heard him before they saw him. His boots crunched on the broken glass as his shadowy form stepped through the doorway. The stranger was six feet, two inches tall, and dressed in a manner which was alien to the stragglers in patched together remnants of their suits and ties. His face was shadowed by a low brim fedora to shield against the rain, and his waterproof duster hung loosely on his slim form, rivulets of liquid flowing off it. He lifted his head and glanced around at the ragged men anxiously pointing guns at him. His eyes were razor blades made for carving ice in the Arctic. After a moment’s pause, he strolled casually over to the nearest man.

“Name’s Law. I believe you got information for me?”

Across1- Bank deposit?; 5- Martini’s partner; 10- Fall short; 14- Inter ___; 15- Blow one’s top; 16- Basics; 17- Capital of the Ukraine; 18- Prophets; 19- Ticked (off); 20- Alleviates; 22- Baby’s ring; 24- Roster; 27- “Night” author Wiesel; 28- Delivered jointly; 32- Existing in an untamed state; 35- Spider’s creation; 36- Lieu; 38- Streamlined; 40- Zeno’s home; 42- Pelvic bones; 44- Long ago; 45- Gnu cousin; 47- The Hindu Destroyer; 49- “As if!”; 50- Stylish; 52- Lay eggs; 54- Digits of the foot; 56- Level; 57- Cork; 60- Slough; 64- Close with force; 65- Bunk; 68- Rent-___; 69- Taylor of “Mystic Pizza”; 70- Monetary unit of India; 71- Hoar; 72- Auricular; 73- Attentive, warning of danger; 74- WWII event; Down1- Benefit; 2- Bones found in the hip; 3- Falsehoods; 4- Inn; 5- Hi-___ monitor; 6- Metal-bearing mineral; 7- Hard fatty tissue; 8- Carousal; 9- In and of ___; 10- Paternal; 11- Busy as ___; 12- Bakery worker; 13- Acid; 21- Weeps; 23- Connections; 25- Small children; 26- Neighborhoods; 28- Affectedly dainty; 29- Water holes; 30- Steel girder; 31- Tortilla topped with cheese; 33- Ages; 34- Vive ___!; 37- Compel; 39- Etta of old comics; 41- Pertaining to bodily structure; 43- Tel ___; 46- Fall; 48- Gorillas, chimpanzees and orangutans; 51- Volcanic material; 53- Ahead; 55- Capital of South Korea; 57- Split; 58- Anklebones; 59- Thick cord; 61- Biting; 62- Baby’s cry; 63- One hunted; 64- ___-mo; 66- Alway; 67- Are we there ___?;

Crossword from Bestcrosswords.com and Sudoku from Sudoku-puzzles.net

Crossword & Sudoku Rutgers Observer

Samurai - Puzzle 2 of 5 - Easy

9 4 6 1 9 22 1 7 4

3 8 7 8 99 6 2 7 1

5 48 3 5 3 2 6

5 7 1 95 6 4

2 3 4 9 1 5 62 6 7 3

9 15

8 23 4 2 3 5

6 7 1 28 1 2 1

2 8 6 56 8 9

2 1 4 7 9 4 9 5 88 1 2 5 7

9 4 3 7 4 2www.sudoku-puzzles.net

Rutgers Observer

Samurai - Puzzle 4 of 5 - Hard

5 1 7 49 3 6 4 7 6 21 4 7 6 5

3 82 8 3 6 5 4 8 2

3 6 2 3 55 3 6 3

7 9 14 1 5 2 8 7

9 2 1

8 5 64 7 4 1

2 7 48 5 4 7

7 2 4 1 26 4 6

3 2 9 2 8 96 1 5 8 9 65 9 4 8 5

1 6 7 3 8www.sudoku-puzzles.net

Easy

Hard

Observer Creative Space

By Kelvin PauSTAFF WRITER

Long ago, when the cradle of filth currently known as the Earth was young, mysterious unthinkable abominations controlled the fate of the world and consequently, the fate of the pitiful species known as

man. These were dark times for the sapient homos, as these sinister twisted beings controlled eldritch powers beyond the feeble scope of understanding that the mortal mind of man possessed. As bullies with magnifying glasses unto ants were the most evil and unimaginable beings unto mankind, and woe, did these apes suffer as the horrible beings forced such indignations upon them as being made to walk amongst each other clothed with nothing but leaves, and to gain knowledge of that cousins that man was not meant to know.

Yet all was not well within the unholy kingdom of suffering. Light forces were stirring. They roared out in outrageous outrage, stirring the dispirited spirits of unmanned

mankind and smashing all the darkness flatter than Kansas while roaring. The ones known as Light Warriors banished the corporeal presence of the Abominable Ones from the world and brought in an age of prosperity and order. Mankind grew proud. They also grew hipster, but that is a tale for other times.

Slowly, darkness crept back into the world. Or rather, it tried, but the holes that the light warriors had drilled into the thin fabric of dimensions by punting their eldritch asses so hard were too small and so mostly darkness was forced to belly crawl back into the desert of the real. After this humiliating slog back to Euclidean reality, it was reincarnated with the sacrifices of 42 virgins, a ceremony it found surprisingly easy because in this day and age there are people who believe that playing an electronic game where players throw grenades for thirty minutes from behind cover takes skill.

With gnashing of impossible fine jagged teeth, the horrible creature from the depths dredged itself in a dark alleyway. It caught its reflection in a pool of blood and roared a roar that was so terrible that it drove everyone in the area

into a degree of madness great enough for them to find Snooki attractive. The unthinkable being regarded the world around him with eyes which were actually millions of tiny creatures enslaved to its will to see for it. To see it with mortal eyes would have boiled the blood in your brains and then froze it solid and then boiled it back again and made your head explode from the sudden change in temperature. With this glance it slithered along the ground spoke but two words, “F’TAGHN CRU’RRJHIHG.” Which is to say, “Shit stinks.”

The Avenging Angel

The Horrific Case of the Incarceration of Serpentine Grimdarkness

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PAGE 10 Advertisement February 23, 2011

NEWARK COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES STUDENT GOVERNING ASSOCIATION Spring 2011 Meeting Schedule Paul Robeson Campus Center, Room 317 350 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. • Newark, NJ 07102 Office: (973) 353-1033

Date: Time: Location: Wednesday, January 26, 2011

2:30 pm – 3:50 pm Paul Robeson Campus Center

Conference Room (3rd Floor) Monday, January 31, 2011

11:30 am – 12:50 pm Paul Robeson Campus Center

Conference Room (3rd Floor) Monday, February 7, 2011








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ALL COMMITTEES ARE REQUIRED TO MEET EVERY WEEK AND MUST REPORT

AT THE FOLLOWING NCAS-SGA GENERAL MEETING

February 23, 2011 Sports PAGE 11

As Spring Training starts, the Yankees lose one of their best

By Shaswat DaveStaff Writer

When Andy Pettitte announced his retirement on February 4th 2010, it was obvious that he would be missed dearly by

both the Yankee fans and managers.

What made Pettitte’s decision even more crucial is that it dug a hole in the Yan-kees starting rotation, leaving the no.4 and no. 5 spots wide open. The Yankees look to answer a few key questions as they fig-ure out their roster for the upcoming season and report for Spring Training in Florida.

The first question that the Yankees will look to answer is that of its starting pitching rotation. With the emotion riddled retirement of Andy Pettitte and the departure of Javier Vazquez to the Florida Marlins, the New York Yankees have a wide open 4th and 5th pitching rotation spot. Work-horse C. C. Sabathia will be starting first followed either by Phil Hughes or AJ Burnett for the 2nd and 3rd spots respectively. Hughes was promoted to the top 3 lineup af-ter a breakthrough performance last season where he went 18-8 with a 4.19 ERA in 31 starts.

Burnett on the other hand, had a subpar year going only 10-15 and 5.26 ERA in 25 starts. Freddy Gar-cia, Ivan Nova and Bartolo Colon are prospects for the 4th and 5th spots but for now, their roles remain ques-tionable as the Yankees seek to find suitable contenders.

Questionable is also Joba Chamberlin ‘s role in the Yankee bullpen. The hefty right hander had an average 2010 (going 3-4 and an ERA of 4.40 in 71.2 innings) and

after the acquisition of Rafael Soriano, Chamberlin’s future looks glum as Soriano will most likely be taking over the 8th in-ning spot and will be backing up Mariano Riviera.

The starting line-up is comparative-ly stable for the Yankees, as Jeter returns for another 3 years as captain and short stop. The Yankee lineup will most likely feature Jeter at Short Stop, Center Field Curtis Granderson, First Baseman Mark Teixeira, Third Baseman Alex Rodriguez, Second Baseman Robinson Cano, Right Fielder Nick Swisher, Designated Hitter Jorge Posada Catcher Russell Martin and Left Fielder Brett Gardner. The changes to the starting lineup include the exclusion of Marcqus Thames and Lance Berkman who have been traded to the Dodgers and the Cardinals respectively, and the acquisition of catcher Russell Martin. Jorge Posada will DH for the entirety of the 2011 season.

The only significant coaching staff is the replacement of pitching coach Dave Eiland with Larry Rothschild, the former Chicago Cubs pitching coach.

Spring Training officially begins on February 26th as the New York Yankees take on the Philadelphia Phillies in Tampa Florida.

9-2 Men’s Volleyball goes 1-1 on road trip

By Luis MercadoStaff Writer

As the clock ticked towards the trading deadline for the NBA, the New York Knicks completed a blockbuster trade that netted

them Carmelo Anthony. But will Carmelo Anthony make the Knicks better?

It’s easy to say he will, he was the Denver Nuggets franchise player, and he is currently averaging 25.2 PPG, 7.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists. He is also on a stretch where he has scored over 25 points in 7 of his last 10 games. Anybody would love to have Anthony on their team as he is easily a force.

Too bad there are four other players on the court. He could help get the city of New York excited. But the team itself could break even or get worse.

First of all, let’s start with the coach. Mike D’Antoni is a great coach, but a great coach in his own style; the Run and Gun offense. He loves to run in the fast break, shoot a lot of threes and score with Amar’e Stoudemire through pick and rolls.

With Anthony on the team, they will

only get slower. D’Antoni will have to switch his who ideology to play a more half court offense with Anthony, as well as take Stoudemire away from the style he is most comfortable playing.

According to the proposed trade reported by ESPN, and confirmed Monday evening, the Knicks will also receive point guard Chauncey Billups as well as other of Denver’s role players. Meanwhile they would lose Danilo Gallinari, Raymond Felton, Wilson Chandler and Timofey Mozgov. The first four being key players in the Knicks playoff run so far. They are also players that fit perfectly with the system D’Antoni is comfortable running.

This is all without knowing what the NBA collective bargaining agreement would look next year. It’s quite possible that if Anthony signs the 3 year $65 million extension, with Stoudemire that the new provisions in next years CBA may not leave enough money to surround the two superstars with the players needed to compete in the Eastern Conference.

Everybody wants to be like the Miami Heat, but with so much uncertainty next year, and the right players and coaches to have in place the talents acquired might just mean an average playoff run every year. Carmelo Anthony is not the answer for the Knicks, as they try to build a team championship worthy for years to come.

Knicks get Anthony: Melo‘drama’ lands on Broadway

By Yaroslav Imshenetskysports writer

The Rutgers-Newark Men’s Vol-leyball team has gone through two crazy weeks, filed with stel-lar wins and, unfortunately, some

losses as well. On Tuesday, February 8th, the Scar-

let Raiders met with Ramapo College at the Golden Dome.

Senior setter Jeff Zornig notched 26 assists, including a dozen in the opening game, as R-N overpowered Ramapo, 25-13, 25-9, 25-14. Junior right side Kenneth de Groh posted a match-high 14.0 points

with 10 kills, three aces and a solo block. while junior right side Austin Pappas had seven kills and no errors on nine swings, two aces and a pair of assisted blocks for 10.0 points.

Junior outside hitter Marcin Mi-dura and sophomore middle hitter Brett Pickens each had six kills without an at-tack error. Midura had two of the Raid-ers’ eight aces while junior libero Zack Chambers came up with a match-high

seven digs.The team then

went on to face the na-tionally ranked rivals, Penn State. Scarlet Raiders battled hard but could not clinch a “W”, losing their first game of the season, 25-19, 28-26, 29-31, 25-19.

The match was tight from start to finish, with 38 ties and 20 lead changes.

Midura paced the Scarlet Raiders with 15 kills, two aces and an assisted block while Zornig piled up 46 as-sists to go along with three kills, two solo blocks, five assisted blocks and five digs.

Recovering from their first season loss, Rutgers-Newark took down St. Francis, 25-21, 25-20, 25-19.

Zornig had 29 assists while adding

two kills, an ace and two assisted blocks as the Scarlet Raiders (9-1, EIVA Tait 2-1) needed just 65 minutes to sweep past the Red Flash.

Pappas posted a match-high 11 kills, hitting .471 (11-3-17) and added an ace plus two assisted blocks for 14 points. De Groh had 11 points with seven kills an ace and four assisted blocks.

Midura and junior middle hitter Metheny each chalked up nine points. Midura tallied eight kills and an ace while coming up with a team-high six digs. Metheny notched a match-high six assisted blocks to go along with six kills.

To finish off the week, the team hosted George Mason at the Golden Dome.

De Groh and Pappas had 13 kills apiece to lead a balanced attack, but George Mason defeated Rutgers-New-ark, 3-1, with set scores of 21-25, 25-20, 25-21 and 25-23.

Pappas had four kills as Rutgers-Newark rallied from a 14-9 deficit in the deciding game to knot the score at 23-23. But a George Mason kill followed by a Raider attack error ended the 1-hour and 35-minute contest.

The Scarlet Raiders are now 9-2 on the season and will look to put them-selves back on the winning track against Princeton on Tuesday.

Yankee pitcher Andy Pettitte’s desicion came as strong surprise to the baseball world.

Courtesy NBA.com

By Camilo Brunsports editor

The 2011 NBA All-Star Game on TNT delivered 9.1 million total viewers and 6 million households, along with strong growth across

all key demos, according to Nielsen Fast Nationals.

This year’s star-studded contest in Los Angeles ranks as the most watched and highest rated game since 2003, which featured Michael Jordan’s final NBA All-Star appearance of his career. In addition, the 2011 NBA All-Star Game and All-Star Saturday Night presented by State Farm, which was the most watched in the event’s 26-year history, combined to average more than 17 million total viewers.

While Kobe Bryant’s fourth All-Star MVP award selection was undoubtedly justified, there was one player in Staples Center more deserving of the honor: LeB-ron James.

Compared to Bryant or even Amar’e Stoudemire, the first half was fairly quiet for James, as he watched his Eastern Con-ference team fall behind by double digits.

However Bryant, shows veteran moves in winning MVP for record-tying fourth time, scoring 37 points.

The Lakers star made 14 of 26 shots and also had 14 rebounds and three steals in joining Bob Pettit as the only four-time All-Star MVPs.

All-Star success was nothing new to Bryant, who had made headlines at the event since becoming the youngest All-Star ever, playing at age 19 in 1998. He won the MVP award in 2002, 2007 and 2009, sharing it with Shaquille O’Neal two years ago but winning it on his own this time.

“Just being around so many young players gave me so much energy to see them bouncing around and all that sort of stuff,” Bryant said in a post gam interview with the Los Angeles Times. “But the fourth quarter, man, I had nothing left. I exceeded my dunk quota for the game.”

Bryant finished five points behind Wilt Chamberlain’s record for points in an All-Star game, set in 1962. Bryant fired away from the start, scoring 21 points in the first half in front of a pro-Lakers crowd.

On one play, he went around Rose for a double-clutch dunk. On another, he scored on a reverse dunk after a feed from Manu Ginobili. He helped clinch the award by beating a fast-closing LeBron James for a fastbreak dunk in the third quarter.

Bryant also moved to fourth in All-Star points, 18 behind career leader Michael Jordan (262 points).

James gave Bryant a run at MVP honors, posting only the second triple-double in All-Star history: 29 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.

“I wish the East would have won,” said Miami’s Dwyane Wade post-game. “Then my teammate with the triple-double would have stole it, but [Bryant] deserved it.”

Amare Stoudemire had 29 points for the East, which never led after an early 4-2 edge. The West led by as many as 17, but James’ driving layup brought the East within 142-140 with 1:12 to play. Pau Ga-sol answered by tipping in Bryant’s miss, and Chris Paul made two free throws to put the West back in control.

The game ended a weekend filled with intrigue (Griffin’s dunk over a parked car) and drama (the Carmelo Anthony trade saga).

The game had some humorous mo-ments, including Orlando center Dwight Howard launching two three-point at-tempts (he missed both, of course) and possible soon-to-be teammates Anthony and Stoudemire guarding each other.

The more serious moments came at the expense of Bryant’s Lakers, who dropped three games before entering the All- Star game. One of which being a dis-appointing loss to the Cavaliers.

“We are up for the challenge,” Bry-ant said. “Pau and I have been talking this whole time about looking forward and getting back at it. We have been in com-munication with the rest of the fellas, and we all can’t wait to get started.”

Whether or not the Lakers prevail at the top of the West, still has a lot to do with Carmelo Anthony, who was in meet-ings all weekend long with the Nets and Knicks.

Until then, the remainder of the sea-son, will be as chaotic as the All-Star dunk contest, which was won by a rookie- may-be new teammates can pull-off the same.

All-Star Weekend,Recapped

PAGE 12 R-N Sports february 23,2011

One-on-one with coaches Joe Loughran and Kevin MorrisBy Patrick Baselice

sports writer

On Feb. 15 and 19 I sat down with coaches Joe Loughran and Kevin Morris of the Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams.

Coach Loughran was still waiting for Montclair State to play New Jersey City University the next night to determine if the Rutgers Men’s Basketball program would qualify for the NJAC postseason

tournament. After the interview was conducted

Montclair State beat NJCU to earn the last bid in the NJAC tournament leaving Rutgers on the outside looking in for only the second time in eight years.

Rutgers will now wait to see if they qualify for the ECAC tournament when the announcement of the teams that qualify is made on February 28th after the conclusion of the NJAC tournament.

While Coach Morris just completed

his tenth regular season as the women’s basketball coach at Rutgers-Newark. We would speak about his career which has spanned over a quarter of a century with successful stints at several Division I and III programs as both a head and an assistant coach.

Coach Morris was taking a short break from preparing for his team’s first round opponent of the New Jersey Athletic Conference, The College of New Jersey. That game would be played two nights

after this interview was conducted at the Golden Dome in Newark. Rutgers would go on to win that game 63-48 led by the stellar three point shooting of Jared Tactuk, Brittany Smith and Jaleesa Coleman. As a result of the win the Rutgers-Newark Women’s Basketball team will be headed on Wednesday February 25th to Kean University for a second round matchup with perennial conference powerhouse Kean.

For the full interviews with Coaches Lughran and Morris log onto: www.therutgersobserver.com

It was just announced that your sophomore center Hussein Abdelmaksoud was named NJAC conference player of the week. You must be proud of the contributions of Hussein as well as the rest of the team.

We didn’t know what we would get from him this year. Last year as a freshman, he learned a lot, he played behind three seniors that were very physical with him in practice. We saw the potential because he had the ability to score around the rim we just didn’t know when and where and how he would be able to produce when we got to 5 on 5 when we got into game action. To his credit he really stuck with it he really made some believers out of

people including myself. He’s a great kid, a great worker and a great learner a quick learner. His success is a pleasure to watch. Part of my success is watching guys mature not only on the court but off the court as well and he has done that. So we are really excited about the potential he could show over the next two years over what he could be.

You started your season 10-0 and ended the season 17-7. How difficult is it to watch two other teams fight it out to determine your fate with New Jersey City University and Montclair State University playing this Wednesday to determine your teams playoff fate?

To be honest with you I don’t stress about it too much, because at the end of the day we had our chances to win another league game. We had our chances to go 8-5 and we let a couple of games slip. I talk a lot to my team about opportunities. Each game is an opportunity to separate yourself from the rest of the pack. Our guys have done a great job this year. This team has gone a long way. That is why it has been a pleasure to coach this group out of all the years I’ve been here because we had so many new guys to gel and so many new guys to trust each other. This team has come a long way. So it’s been a great experience for me but at the end of the day we can’t control what is going to happen in this game. So we will continue to focus on ourselves and have practice tomorrow and do light workouts. This is a teaching lesson for our guys, you have to control your own destiny, you don’t want to rely on other people and that’s the position we are in now.

You were a very successful player at James Caldwell High School earning All Conference and All Area selection honors before going to Scranton. At what point did you feel as though coaching was something you wanted to do and why specifically with women instead of men?

I always felt that I would coach and have a career in athletics and this was the way to do it. As far as women it was because of the coach at Scranton Mike Strong, who is still the coach at the time. I was an undergraduate that played varsity basketball and tennis at Scranton. He was the women’s basketball coach and he also played tennis. When my career ended and I was still undergraduate I started helping him coach the women’s basketball team. He knew the head coach at Harvard and introduced me to her so I was very fortunate to be coaching at a Division I school such as Harvard when I was only 24 years old.

Could you have imagined that 25 years later that you would be coaching not one but two Division III sports programs?

You never know where your career is going to take you. I have worked at some great schools and had not had to travel all over the country to do it. I coached in Boston for three years and since then I have been at Rutgers and Fordham and Princeton coaching within 30 minutes of where I grew up.

Your first head coaching job was at Fordham. Do you remember the events that led to you being hired there?

I was brought in to be an assistant to Christina Wielgus who was the former head coach at Dartmouth but had taken several years off to raise her sons. She had moved to South Carolina. When her boys got older she decided to get back into coaching. When the Fordham job opened up she decided to apply and with her amazing resume she got the job and hired

me. After two years the Dartmouth job opened up again. She decided that it was a great place to raise her two sons. For several reasons she determined Dartmouth was better for her family and she decided to leave for it. This was in August. Two weeks later I was interviewed and offered the job as permanent head coach at Fordham.

You were an assistant coach under legendary Harvard coach Kathy Delaney-Smith. Was there anything you learned from that experience that you have been able to apply to the way you coach now?

In coaching when you work under someone successful you would have to be stupid to not pick things up from her. I still do drills I learned from her. I still pick her brain 25 years later and she is still winning Ivy League championships 25 years later

Loughran Morris

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