4.2.13

Page 1

INDEX

Emory Events Calendar, Page 2

Police Record, Page 2

Crossword Puzzle, Page 8

Staff Editorial, Page 6

Arts & Entertainment, Page 9

On Fire, Page 11

THE EMORY WHEEL Since 1919

The Independent Student Newspaper of Emory University

Volume 94, Issue 41

www.emorywheel.com

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Every Tuesday and Friday

EVENT

FINANCES

STUDENT GOVERNMENT

Raj Patel Elected As SGA President

Sequester to Reduce Funds For Research by $17.5M By Jordan Friedman Executive Editor College junior Sanket Shah, who works in a lab on campus, was planning to ask his boss for a raise next year. But as a result of the sequester, a series of automatic federal spending cuts that took effect March 1, it ’s looking less and less likely that he ’s going to be able to do so. “I ’ve been working there for two years, ” Shah said. “Now I know for sure I can ’t ask for that. ” Shah is currently a peer mentor in the Scholarly Inquiry and Research at Emory (SIRE) Research Partners program, which pairs students with faculty researchers and allows them to serve as research assistants. Because peer mentors must also be involved in their own research, Shah is a paid employee at the Children ’s Center, which receives funding through grant money. And for students like Shah who receive federal funds in their salary, there might be cause for concern. Like Shah, many student and faculty researchers will soon feel the impacts of the sequester, which will likely lead to reductions in federal funding for research at colleges and universities across the country, including at Emory. On a federal level, there will be a 5 percent cut to federal research funding. For Emory, this means a $17.5 million reduction, according to Director of Federal Affairs Cameron Taylor, who detailed the potential impacts of the sequester on University research in a March 5 Emory Report article. Emory received $350 million in federal grants during the 2011-2012 academic year. The College specifically received

THE SEQUESTER The second story in a series about the sequester ’s effects on Emory.

Victory Follows Cheating Claims

Next Week: Sequester to impact Emory health care.

RESEARCH FUNDING National Level A five-percent cut to federal research funding.

Emory University An estimated $17.5-million reduction in research funding.

School of Medicine A projected $14.2-million shortfall for research. about $21.5 million in federal funding for Fiscal Year (FY) 2012, which ended Aug. 31. “The cuts are across the board, ” said Raymond Dingledine, a professor and chair of the Department of Pharmacology at the School of Medicine. “Every laboratory and every research faculty member will feel this. Every research program will have to find a way forward with fewer resources. ” David Stephens, the vice president for research at the Woodruff Health Sciences Center, specified in an interview with the Wheel that the funding decline “could be more or less [than the $17.5 million project reduction],

See FEDERAL, Page 5

Joanna Chang/Staff

College junior Graham Brooks (left), College sophomore Michelle Feldman (center) and B-School sophomore Michael Nathin (center) throw Dooley’s Week shirts to the crowd at Taste of Emory.

Taste of Emory Kicks Off Dooley’s Week By Karishma Mehrotra Asst. News Editor A line of students formed on the side of McDonough Field and wrapped all the way down toward Cox Hall as they waited for the Student Programming Council (SPC) to open the gates to the fourth annual Taste of Emory event. About 2,000 students flooded through the gates in the first 20 minutes of the event. And by the end of the event, more than 3,000 people had showed up on the field. The event kicked off this year ’s Dooley ’s Week by offering free food samples from 20 local restaurants — including Yogli Mogli, Fresh to Order, Johnny Rocket ’s, Yeah! Burger and Which Wich — on McDonough

SIGNATURES FOR CHARITY

Field yesterday evening. “It completely exceeded our expectations, ” College sophomore and Taste of Emory Co-Chair Michelle Feldman said. “It was the most incredible feeling ... to hear people cheering when we opened the gates. ” Feldman said the programming committee started calling more than 100 restaurants in January and began to make personal visits to venues in February. According to Feldman, it was a challenging event but was worth it in the end. Goizueta Business School sophomore and Taste of Emory Co-Chair Michael Nathin said the committee focused on sustainability this year and made every material compostable

or recyclable. He added that sustainability office members helped students sort their waste. “We were also pleased to have 100 percent cooperation from our restaurants in this endeavor, ” Nathin said. Feldman also said SPC changed the location from Asbury Circle this year to promote a more “informal cocktail party ” feel in which students could relax and enjoy the weather or play interactive games like jousting or bocci ball. Students said in interviews with the Wheel that they were pleased with this year ’s location change. College senior Michael Goldberg said holding the event on the field

See STUDENT, Page 5

CONSTRUCTION

Atwood Chemistry Center To Undergo Renovations By Shivangi Singh Staff Writer

C

Emily Lin/C0-Editor

ollege freshman Ami Fields-Meyer signs a giant ball to help the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity with their annual “Get on the Ball” fundraiser, which benefits the Children’s Miracle Network. Fraternity brothers rolled the ball around on campus last week collecting signatures from students and faculty.

STUDENT LIFE

ResLife Responds to ‘Act of Intolerance’ By Karishma Mehrotra Asst. News Editor The Office of Residence Life and Housing (ResLife) discovered an incident of vandalism on a Residence Hall Association (RHA) candidate ’s fliers in Clairmont Tower on Sunday afternoon, according to Andy Wilson, Director of Residence Life and Assistant Dean for Campus Life. Elizabeth Cox, assistant director of Clairmont Campus, informed the Clairmont community of the incident

in an email yesterday afternoon. According to the email, a ResLife staff member found derogatory racial slurs written on multiple fliers, which constitutes an “act of intolerance, ” according to Wilson. The Emory Police Department (EPD) removed the fliers, and ResLife informed the candidate. ResLife staff and EPD are investigating the incident. “In my own opinion, this action was ignorant of how far we have come and what we dealt with this school year, ” College junior and

RHA President Niketu Patel wrote in an email to the Wheel. “It shows that we really need active change on our campus. ” Wilson said that in situations where there is an unidentified perpetrator, ResLife enlists community help. In the email to Clairmont residents, ResLife charged students to use this opportunity to educate themselves. “We remain committed to build-

See EPD, Page 5

NEWS ELECTION BALLOT

OP-EDS RELIGION HAS

FORMAT EXPLAINED BY

NO PLACE IN THE POLITICAL

ELECTION BOARD

...

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REALM

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A $52 million expansion and renovation of the Stanford S. Atwood Chemistry Center will begin the day after commencement on May 14 and finish in early 2015. Largely funded by proceeds from the discovery of an antiviral HIV/AIDS drug in 1996, the project aims to foster a more collaborative and efficient atmosphere inside Atwood, according to David Lynn, the director of the Chemistry department. These modifications are all part of a long-term plan to designate Atwood-Emerson as a science commons since that area is surrounded by other science buildings, namely the Psychology and Interdisciplinary Sciences,(PAIS) and Math and Science Center. The project entails remodeling approximately 40,000 square feet of existing space in Atwood and adding an extra 70,000 square feet to the current 200,000-square foot Atwood-Emerson Hall, according to a March 26 University press release. Sunlit foyers and glass walls will also replace the building ’s concrete walls. A five-story, glass-fronted atrium will be put in the place of the current walkway along the west side of Atwood. On the ground floor of the atrium, Emory will build a contemporary library consisting of computer stations and conversational corners to encourage collaboration and interaction between graduate and undergraduate students. “By vertically integrating the system ... you walk into [the] chemistry library and see people doing research, and when you are doing research in

ENTERTAINMENT

DESPITE SHORTCOMINGS, OZ WAS AN OVERALL SUCCESS ... PAGE 9

that space what you see is people in the library, ” Lynn said. “Then it ’s completely transparent, and there ’s no boundary between the way we learn and the way we educate, the way we ask questions and the way we articulate new knowledge. ” The current library inside Atwood formerly included the research labs that surround it, but in 2007 — when the Internet made many of the books in the library also accessible electronically — a renovation project condensed the library. The newly created space allowed for the construction of communal areas where undergraduate and graduate students could interact. The second floor of Atwood will be modernized with glass walls and hardwood floors to create space for poster presentations, seminars and guest lectures. The tiered lecture hall in Atwood 360, which contains walls covered with asbestos, will also be replaced by a more interactive space where students can sit at round tables surrounded by huge display screens connected to computers. This change, Lynn said, is another manifestation of the rise of the Internet. Professors no longer need to use classrooms to teach information that is readily available online, he said; instead, these classrooms are built to foster more discussion-based learning. “We need to use classrooms to understand the context of that information [on the Internet], for empowering people to express and articulate the new ideas in the context of the new information, and that ’s things Google

See CHEMISTRY, Page 5

By Dustin Slade Asst. News Editor The names of individuals, other than the candidates, in attendance of the meeting who spoke during the hearing have been omitted, in accordance with the terms that allowed the Wheel to attend the meeting. College junior and current SGA Representative-atLarge Raj Patel was elected to the position of SGA President last night after facing multiple allegations of campaign procedure violations from his opponent, Raj Patel Goizueta Business was named School junior the next SGA and SGA Chief of Staff Matthew president Willis. Monday Although Patel evening. won the election, the SGA Student Elections Board assigned 20 community service hours to Patel to account for the campaign violations. This decision came following controversy over the SGA Elections Board ’s decision not to announce the winner of the SGA presidential race due to these allegations. The confirmation of Patel ’s victory came late last night following a deliberation meeting, in which the Elections Board convened, discussed and weighed arguments that were made in a two-and-a-half-hour hearing held with both candidates earlier in the day. Both the meeting and hearing were closed to the public, but the Wheel was granted access to the hearing. During the meeting, Willis presented four main pieces of evidence and testimony that pointed to Patel ’s alleged breach of SGA constitutional guidelines that say candidates cannot campaign on Election Day. Of the four allegations, the Student Elections Board determined two were considered violations for which Patel would serve 20 community service hours.

Campaign Allegations The first violation was based on three screenshots of a Facebook conversation obtained by the Wheel and then passed along to Willis. The image was a picture taken off a computer screen that showed Patel in a Facebook conversation with an Emory student discussing voting on election day. In the conversation, Patel linked the individual to his platform. “I always say my ideas are just starting points, ” Patel wrote in the chat. The second violation was a “blatant ” act of campaigning that Patel made, said Matthew Kuhn, the chairman of the SGA Elections Board, in an interview with the Wheel following the meeting. Patel posted in a Facebook group “Ask Dean Moon ” and introduced himself. He then asked eligible voters to go online and “make their voices heard. ” The group had approximately 560 members by press time. However, the post was only up for 10 to 20 minutes. Because the post was only up for

See WILLIS, Page 5

SPORTS WOMEN ’S TRACK

NEXT ISSUE SGA

AND FIELD TEAM WINS

TO RECEIVE MORE FUNDS FROM

CLASSIC ...

ACTIVITIES FEE

EMORY BACK PAGE

...

Friday


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