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WEDNESDAY APRIL 24, 2019
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Rutgers holds inaugural conference at gun violence research center APARNA RAGUPATHI CORRESPONDENT
Yesterday, the New Jersey Center on Gun Violence Research at Rutgers University was launched, holding its inaugural conference, “Preventing Gun Violence in NJ: A Call to Action,” with speakers Gov. Phil Murphy (D-N.J.) and professional researchers. The conference was hosted by Dr. Michael Gusmano, the center’s
director of Outreach, and featured a panel discussion with researchers Shireen Rizvi, Richard Stansfield, Joe Pascarella, Valerio Bacak and Ping-hsin Chen. The goal of the conference and center, said Chancellor of Rutgers Biomedical Health Sciences (RBHS) Brian Strom, is to shed light and take action on gun violence. “Across our nation, there are over a hundred thousand firearm-related
incidents annually and almost a third of those resulting in a death,” he said. “There are known but underutilized ways to address this and new approaches are needed as well. That’s why we are here today: to share ideas, generate dialogue, provoke debate and lay the groundwork for evidence-based policies and generate scholarly cooperation in an interdisciplinary fashion.” SEE CENTER ON PAGE 4
Gov. Phil Murphy (D-N.J.) said the fight against gun violence is not just about politics, but also about common sense and more widereaching public policy solutions. COURTESY OF NICK ROMANENKO
Administrators given $5.5 M. in ‘incentives’ BRENDAN BRIGHTMAN NEWS EDITOR
University President Robert L. Barchi’s incentive pay is calculated differently than other faculty members at Rutgers because it is decided by the Board of Governors, which evaluates his work to see if he meets the University’s goals. GARRETT STEFFE / ASSOCIATE PHOTO EDITOR
Rutgers gave more than $5.5 million in “incentive pay” to approximately 700 top administrators and professors last year. The “at-risk” or “incentive pay” method for distributing payments based on their job performance is added on to their base salaries, according to an article by NJ Advance Media. The additional checks ranged from less than $100 to $169,273, which were given to University President Robert L. Barchi. Barchi’s “incentive” pay is calculated differently, as it is determined by the Board of Governors, which
evaluate his work and determine if he has met its goals. Like most top administrators, Barchi has incentive pay as a condition on his contract, according to the article. The rest of the top five incentive payouts were given to administrators from the medical school, according to the article. Brian Strom, chancellor of Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences (RBHS), was paid the second most with $141,359. Three of the 4 medical school administrators had base salaries higher than Barchi’s $705,305, with Leonard Lee, chair of the Department of Surgery at Rutgers Robert SEE INCENTIVES ON PAGE 4
Eagleton hosts event on economic, fiscal policy JAKE MCGOWAN CORRESPONDENT
The Eagleton Institute of Politics held a question-and-answer session on economic and fiscal policy with New Jersey Senate President Steve Sweeney (D) and Sen. Steven Oroho (R-N.J.) on Tuesday. Joining the senators was Marc Pfeiffer, assistant director of the Rutgers Bloustein Local Government Research Center. The event began with a 45-minute conversation with the two policymakers, after which the question-and-answer took place. Topics covered included economic policy, fiscal policy and the general direction of the state’s economy. The state’s economic issues are preventing investments in public education, as well as other important
projects. To help solve those issues, the senators explained the Path to Progress, a plan to overhaul and fix the state’s economy. The plan consists of several recommendations for the state, which, Sweeney said, are desperately needed. “New Jersey’s public schools are the second-most expensive in the nation because we don’t invest here. We’re either 48th or 49th in investment for our public schools,” Sweeney said. “There’s a lot of things I want to invest in. I don’t have the ability to do that, and just raising a tax here or there will not fix it. We’re gonna be in a $4 billion deficit if we don’t address this now.” John Weingart, associate director for the Eagleton Institute of Politics, gave opening remarks for SEE POLICY ON PAGE 4
Sen. Steven Oroho (R-N.J.) (left), New Jersey Senate President Steve Sweeney (D) (center) and assistant director of the Rutgers Bloustein Local Government Research Center Marc Pfeiffer (right) spoke about economic and fiscal policy. JAKE MCGOWAN
VOLUME 151, ISSUE 51 • UNIVERSITY ... 3 • OPINIONS ... 6 • INSIDE BEAT... 8• DIVERSIONS ... 9• SPORTS ... BACK
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April 24, 2019
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Campus Calendar WEDNESDAY 4/24 Board of Governors’ Committees on Academic and Student Affairs and Finance and Facilities present “Open Hearing on the University’s Tuition, Fees and Housing and Dining Charges for 2019-2020” from 6 to 8 p.m. at the College Avenue Student Center on the College Avenue campus. This event is free and open to the public. Rutgers University Libraries presents “STEM E-resources Fair” from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Busch Dining Hall on Busch campus. This event is free and open to the public. THURSDAY 4/25 Ecology and Evolution Graduate Program presents “Ecology and Evolution Graduate Program Seminar: Dr. Nicholas Dulvy” from 4 to 5 p.m. at Marine Sciences Building on Cook campus. This event is free and open to the public. Rutgers University Libraries presents “Sacred Sisters: The Making of an Artists’ Book” from 5 to 7 p.m. at Alexander Librar y on the College Avenue campus. This event is free and open to the public.
Center for Fisheries and Ocean Sustainability presents “Hitting the Target or Missing the Mark? A Shark’s-eye View of Marine Fisheries and Conservation” from 4 to 5 p.m. at Marine Sciences Building on Cook campus. This event is free and open to the public. FRIDAY 4/26 University Career Services presents “NJ Statewide Career and Internship Fair” from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Louis Brown Athletic Center on Livingston campus. This event is free and open to the public. Department of Environmental Sciences presents “Exploring The Climate Responses To The Asteroid Impact At The Cretaceous-Paleogene Boundary” from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. at Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences on Cook campus. This event is free and open to the public. Mason Gross School of the Ar ts presents “Measure for Measure” at 7:30 p.m. at Philip J. Levin Theater on Douglass campus. This event is $15 for students.
If you would like to submit an event for the Campus Calendar section, please email marketing@dailytargum.com. For more information please visit www.dailytargum.com. Due to space limitations there is no guarantee that your event will be listed.
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CORRECTIONS The Daily Targum promptly corrects all errors of substance. If you have a comment or question about the fairness or accuracy of a story, send an email to eic@dailytargum.com.
April 24, 2019
UNIVERSITY
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Student is 1 of 50 to receive Truman Scholarship GOPNA SHEKARAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
A Rutgers student was recently awarded the Harry S. Truman Scholarship, which is given to those who exemplify leadership in areas of public service. The recipient of the award was Aasha Shaik, a School of Ar ts and Sciences junior. The “Truman” is a competitive national scholarship that reviews more than 600 applications for approximately 50 scholarships, according to the Harr y S. Truman Scholarship Foundation website. “Trumans are working in the West Wing, sitting on the U.S. Supreme Court and ser ving in federal and state legislatures. They are transforming nonprofits, delivering crucial ser vices and organizing for change in local communities. And Truman Scholars are leaders in academia, research and health care. They can be found in ever y branch of the Armed Ser vices. And many make a difference beyond the borders of the United States,” according to the website. Shaik, who is also part of Douglass Residential College and the Honors College, said she hopes to double major in political science and Middle Eastern studies. From there, she plans on pursuing a joint J.D. and Master of Public Policy (MPP) degree. “I want to practice law for a period of time as a trial attorney in a civil rights or human rights capacity,” she said. Life experiences such as growing up in a bi-religious Hindu and Muslim household spurred her interest in public service, she said. “That background has also motivated my passion for public service. While my identities have resulted in various marginalizations, I have immense privilege as well, from being an American-born citizen to being able-bodied,” she said. “My privilege juxtaposed with my experiences is what motivates my passion for uplifting all
marginalized communities, whether their marginalization looks like my own.” Beyond her major, Shaik is also active in many organizations on campus, such as the Petey Greene Program, in which she has served as president for the Rutgers chapter. The program’s main objective is to “supplement education in jails, prisons and detention centers, by preparing volunteers to provide free, quality tutoring and related programming to support the academic achievement of incarcerated people,” according to its website.
As par t of the program, Shaik worked to bring awareness to the state of the criminal justice system while also providing the program with more Rutgers tutors. “During that first year, we increased the number of tutors placed in prisons by four times and grew our new Petey Greene chapter to more than 150 student members,” she said. Shaik’s time with the Petey Greene Program further increased her interest in public ser vice, especially after recognizing racial bias related to incarceration.
“I have the privileges that come with not being Black. While I face marginalization as a person of color, it is to a very different degree than my Black peers. In each of those ways, the criminal justice system and its flaws do not affect me. But that is one of the reasons I do care. It is our duty to use our privilege to uplift and serve others,” she said. She advises students considering careers in public policy and human rights to apply for internships, fellowships, scholarships and other opportunities, even if they think they are not qualified.
“Imposter syndrome is so real, but know that you do deser ve the opportunities that you receive. And also that rejections from the opportunities you don’t receive don’t define you,” she said. What it boils down to for Shaik is a sense of moral duty to help those in need, as she hopes to impact the world through her studies in politics and human rights. “Ultimately, I aspire to be in a diplomatic or foreign policy position in which I can fight to protect the human rights of all,” she said.
Aasha Shaik, a School of Arts and Sciences junior, said her experience growing up in a household that practiced both Hinduism and Islam was part of the reason why she decided to work in public service. RUTGERS.EDU
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April 24, 2019
CENTER For 2 decades Congress has blocked important multidisciplinary research on gun violence CONTINUED FROM FRONT
The New Jersey Center on Gun Violence Research is a joint effort between RBHS and Rutgers University—Newark’s School of Criminal Justice and is 1 of only 2 centers in the nation that have been set up to conduct gun violence research. “We’re starting yet another big initiative at Rutgers in public health. That should not be a surprise to anybody. After all, it was a Rutgers alum (who) first identified the disease that we later came to call AIDS. It was just a few years ago when the Obama administration turned to Rutgers to ask, ‘What are we going to do about the issue of sexual violence on campus?’” University President Robert L. Barchi said. “Our faculty are tracking some of the biggest issues of population and public health. Now we ask, ‘What are
we going to do about this issue of gun violence?’” Trauma surgeon and Director of Surveillance at the center, Stephanie Bonne, gave a keynote address on gun violence and the center’s planned approach. The perspectives of physicians, she said, is vital. “I see gun violence every single day,” she said. “This is our lane, this is what we do. There is only two people that can tell the difference between what a handgun and an AR-15 can do to someone’s liver, and it’s me and the coroner.” The center will take a public health approach that focuses on prevention, Bonne said. “We have ... (been) less successful ... (at) applying the model to gun violence prevention ... but that’s why we’re here today,” she said. The center, said Co-Director Bernadette Hohl, is supported
by an administrative core and is divided into four branches: surveillance, research, training and education and outreach. “There’s value in a center approach — we can suppor t a broad range of activities beyond just the one project. It gives the oppor tunity for respectful, mutual, beneficial collaborations,” she said. “We’re really able to maximize those relationships for multiple projects and activities. It provides the oppor tunity to train future leaders, leverages many of the resources being provided to us and allows us to be responsive to the needs of communities.” The center hopes to take a multifaceted, multidisciplinar y, collaborative and evidence-based approach to gun violence. Its mission, said Co-Director Michael Ostermann, is to provide high-quality multidisciplinar y research on gun violence causality and prevention and to translate this research into clear actionable policies and programs. “It’s our aim as a center to per form scientifically rigorous research at the highest quality
in order to adjust existing policies and programs and/or to create new ones with the intention that our research will create safer and healthier environments for the citizens of New Jersey. Through our outreach, training and education ef for ts, we want to formulate national policies that can be expor ted to other jurisdictions as well,” he said. In his keynote address, Murphy weighed in on addressing gun violence through action. “The fight against gun violence isn’t about politics and in many ways it’s not even about guns. It’s about the search for common sense and far reaching public policy solutions. Thoughts and prayers are not sufficient. Action must be our only guiding principle,” he said. For more than two decades, Murphy said, Congress has blocked impor tant multidisciplinar y research on gun violence and an academic consor tium is needed to bring together insights and opinions from across the region. To raise awareness, build suppor t, and create ef fective solutions,
an evidence-based approach is critical. “This must be the goal of the New Jersey Center on Gun Violence Research: to replace opinion with irrefutable facts,” he said, “We have already proven through our actions that we can have common sense gun safety laws that are fully respectful of the second amendment. Let us take our inspiration from the words of Dr. Bonne: ‘We’re not anti-gun, we are antibullet hole.’” Murphy elaborated on his thoughts about the work being led by Rutgers University. “With firm footholds in each region of our state, Newark, New Brunswick and Camden, North, Central and South, we can assure not just a whole-Rutgers or a whole-government, but a truly whole-state approach that will educate and inform sound public policy decisions.” The conference was also attended by Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-N.J.), Assembly Majority Leader Lou Greenwald (D-N.J.) and representatives from Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action.
INCENTIVES Approximately 700 administrators, top professors receive ‘incentive pay’ CONTINUED FROM FRONT
Wood Johnson Medical School (NJMS), making $1,891,500 in base pay alone along with $115,745 in “incentive” pay. Rutgers is among a growing number of higher education institutions to use the “incentive pay” programs to give employees financial rewards for meeting goals set by their bosses. The programs are similar to those used in private corporations, according to the article. “Part of total compensation is considered guaranteed base and the remainder is designated as ‘at risk,’ attainable by achieving annual goals,” Rutgers officials said in a statement. “This strategy is standard among businesses and other organizations focused on inspiring leaders and achieving excellence.”
The amount of administrators at the University was a concern raised by the Rutgers American Association of University Professors and American Federation of Teachers (AAUP-AFT) during its contract negotiations, The Daily Targum reported earlier this month. The part-time lecturers (PTL) bargaining team, who is still negotiating a contract, said it is the most affected by this issue. “At any university, the ratio of part-time faculty to full-time faculty directly affects the quality of education. The higher the ratio of contingent faculty, the more the students lose. Rutgers now has a ratio of 70% contingent faculty members,” said Teresa Politano, president of the PTL Faculty Chapter and PTL in the School of Communication and Information, in a statement to the Targum.
POLICY New Jersey’s economic problems are largely due to pension funds, Sweeney says CONTINUED FROM FRONT
the event, and also spoke prior to the question-and-answer period. He explained that the panel was bipartisan, as was the entire group behind the Path to Progress plan. “This is a bipartisan panel, the kind of thing that’s supposed to not exist anymore. Whenever you think of their recommendations, it’s not just this one Democrat and one Republican, but the people behind them come from both parties,” Weingart said. Oroho explained his working relationship with Sweeney, and the impor tance of working
together and taking action to fix the state’s economy, rather than making empty promises. “Sen. Sweeney and I don’t agree on everything, but he has the courage to take on the tough issues,” Oroho said. “We always talk about the total cost of government. When you add all of the government-related stuff together, it’s around $115 billion. There’s a very heavy overhead burden. We can make promises, but promises are easy — payments are difficult.” Sweeney explained the legislation that partially led to the state’s economic issue. The state’s economic problems are mainly due to pension issues.
Brian Strom, chancellor of Rutgers Biomedical and Health Services, had a base salary of $732,432 and received an additional incentive payment of $141,359, the second-highest incentive payout in the NJ Advance Media report. RUTGERS.EDU
“The pensions were over 100% funded, and by law, when your pensions are overfunded, you can make improvements. It wasn’t really overfunded, it was overfunded on paper,” he said. “First thing they did was reduce their contributions by 40%. It wasn’t real, but they took 40% of the money out of the pension system. That’s bad.” Sweeney also explained how the state’s economic situation could be prompting New Jerseyans to leave the state, which could further damage the economy. “Investing where we need to invest makes our state a better state. Again, I’m not afraid to raise taxes if it fixes the problem, but if it’s not gonna fix the problem, it’s not a solution. I have people come up to me all the time, and tell me that when their kids leave high school, they’re out of here. Everyone’s heard that. We don’t want people to leave, we want people to stay,” Sweeney said.
Oroho further delved into this point, explaining that each year, New Jersey loses more taxable income than it gains. “From 2004-2016, the latest data available, New Jersey’s actually lost $25 billion of tax revenue, cumulatively. We haven’t had one year where more tax money comes into the state than has left the state. And unfortunately, it’s been accelerating. One of the key things is, we need time and discipline to get out of the hole that we’re in,” Oroho said. Pfeiffer also spoke about spending relief for local governments, and how the state government could cover the costs of disabled students rather than forcing local governments to foot the bill. Sweeney then added to that point, saying that if more money was freed up from the state’s expensive pension fund, it could be used to help accommodate students who need special education.
“Extraordinary special education would help every single school district in the state. I need $200 million to do it. We agree, we bipartisanly agree. I bet you we could get 40 votes in the Senate and 120 in the Assembly to do it. We don’t have the money. What a shame,” Sweeney said. Sweeney said the recommendations are objective and can help fix the economy of New Jersey. “There’s a lot in this repor t, that was put into by a lot of people with goodwill. Not looking to make friends, but just being honest and having a conversation to star t fixing this place,” he said. “New Jersey, in my mind, is the greatest state in the countr y. When you have people leaving because they can’t af ford to stay here anymore, the people who are left behind are the ones who can’t af ford to leave. That’s gonna make it hard.”
OPINIONS
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April 24, 2019
NJ must extend sex education curriculum
O
n April 5, two Monmouth County teenagers — 18-year-old Jada M. McClain of Neptune and ASHLEY ABRAMS 19-year-old Quaimere Mohammed of Asbury Park — were arrested in connection with the death of a newborn child on March 29. McClain was implicated on a first-degree murder charge, according to an affidavit of probable cause, while Mohammed was charged with second-degree desecration of remains for disposing the child’s body in the dumpster at an Asbury Park apartment complex. Prosecutors would eventually learn that McClain had given birth to the infant, a boy, on the morning of March 29 before asphyxiating him. After calling Mohammed, McClain’s partner and the child’s father, the couple drove to Asbury Park before Mohammed disposed of the child’s remains. This story appears to be paradigmatic of those in the American anthology of teenage pregnancies. A high school-aged mother — weighed down by her parents’ authority, disquieting perceptions from classmates eager to express judgment and lingering questions of financial stability — is confronted with logistical obstacles much greater than those faced by parents that successfully pursued an intentional pregnancy. Despite the amplified challenges teenage mothers face, the New Jersey public school system does not provide the far-reaching sexual education to equip them with the knowledge to meet those challenges. When questioned by prosecutors, McClain explained that, upon discovering her pregnancy in July, she vacillated over whether to terminate the pregnancy. Because she and Mohammed were adamant about hiding the pregnancy from their parents, McClain ultimately decided against pursuing an abortion. She believed that she needed parental consent to undergo the process, according to the Asbury Park Press. The caveat, of course, is that McClain’s inclinations about the barriers faced by young women contemplating an abortion in New Jersey had led her astray. New Jersey law does not require women undertaking abortion procedures to notify their parents or gain their parents’ consent in order to move forward. If McClain had known this granular detail — perhaps as knowledge acquired from sexual education in school — she wouldn’t have acquired murder charges from the loss of a child that was carried to term. But regardless of whether one believes in the constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy, we can all agree there was another crucial facet of knowledge missing from McClain’s toolkit: Safe Haven. In August 2000, galvanized by similar laws in Alabama and Texas, legislators in New Jersey passed the Safe Haven Infant Protection Act, which allows anonymous parents or representatives of parents to leave infants less than 30 days old at “Safe Haven” sites throughout the state. These sites include any hospital emergency room, police station, firehouse or satellite emergency department that is open 24 hours per day. The infants are then transitioned into the care of the New Jersey Department of Children and Families’ Child Protection and Permanency Office, which oversees the child’s adoption or placement into a foster home. With more than 60 infants rescued from 2000 to 2014, the law has been effective in preventing tragedies like the one that has enveloped the Neptune community. Had McClain understood this resource — carefully designed to prevent heinous acts that stem from the desperation that accompanies an unplanned pregnancy — her child’s life could have been saved, and she could have retained the dignity she was so desperate to cling to. New Jersey public schools’ sexual education curriculum is a reasonable scapegoat for her gap in knowledge. Sexual education in any “course, curriculum or instructional program” is to “stress that abstinence from sexual activity” is the only “completely reliable” means of evading sexually transmitted diseases or unplanned pregnancies, according to the New Jersey Department of Education Core Curriculum Content Standards for Comprehensive Health and Physical Education. This statute implies that the New Jersey Department of Education considers abstinence to be a critical facet of sex education, and that no sex education is complete without it. This focus on abstinence as the centerpiece of sex education could lead educators to sacrifice instruction on other critical topics such as the nuanced resources available to teenage parents. Rather than focusing sex education so narrowly on abstinence, New Jersey public schools should expand sex education curriculums to reflect the range of challenges and options available once teenagers find themselves pregnant, which are ostensibly being sacrificed for a focus on abstinence. By neglecting instruction on the details of options like safe and legal pregnancy termination, adoption and the Safe Haven Infant Protection Act, New Jersey public schools are laying the foundation for tragedies like those committed by McClain and Mohammed.
THANK U, NEXT OPINION
Ashley Abrams is a School of Arts and Sciences junior majoring in political science. Her column, “Thank U, Next Opinion,” runs on alternate Wednesdays.
UNIVERSAL UCLICK
EDITORIAL
Rights, justice must extend to environment Legal action for environment must be coupled with democratic movements
W
e gaze out and see what is ours for consumption, ours for ownership. We claim a callous superiority as if we rule over the dominion with absolute distinction. But in doing so, in accepting the culturally ingrained perception that our relation to nature is one of master and slave, conqueror and conquered, we ignore our duties of justice and our intertwined, codependent existence. As Franklin D. Roosevelt said: “A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people.” As we continue to destroy the soil upon which this nation is grounded, a movement blossoms in defiance. The new frontier of human moral development aims to extend beyond the humanistic constraints of ethics recognizing that justice is not solely isolated to the human experience. Animals and nature are not simply objects of compassion, but rather subjects of ethical and moral consideration. All complex forms of life — as Martha Nussbaum, philosopher and professor at the University of Chicago said — have the potential “to flourish as the kind of thing that it is.” This potential and capability of flourishing, though different from human flourishing, still endows an entitlement to not have this potential suppressed or injured. We cannot ignore the consequences of human activity on the world and the solution is not to isolate ourselves. We cannot simply leave the problem alone. We are obligated to fulfill moral and political commitments to the protection of the world. We must acknowledge that our current path of environmental destruction is a path of mutual destruction. We tend to consider environmental catastrophes such as oil spills as accidents, as isolated phenomena emerging without detection and warning. “But when does the word accident become inappropriate? When does a consistent pattern of inevitable disasters point to a deep-seated crisis that is not only environmental but profoundly social?” said Murray Bookchin, an ecological theorist. Ecological problems originate from our actions and social problems. We can no longer be a nation that accepts a corporation as having personhood while our lakes grow contaminated, rivers grow polluted and plants stop growing. Toledo, Ohio voters decided in a special election this past February that Lake Erie must be granted the legal rights normally reserved for a person. This was the “first rights-based legislation aimed at protecting a whole U.S. ecosystem: the lake, its tributaries, and the many species that live off it,” according to Vox. The passage of the Lake Eerie Bill of Rights is “part of a growing number of efforts to carve out legal status
for elements of nature, including rivers, forests, mountains and even wild rice,” according to The New York Times. In the dissenting opinion of the 1972 Supreme Court case Sierra Club v. Morton, Justice William O. Douglas predicted that the question of whether nature has rights will return as “contemporary public concern for protecting nature’s ecological equilibrium should lead to the conferral of standing upon environmental objects to sue for their own preservation.” Internationally, “four rivers were granted legal rights: the Whanganui in New Zealand, Rio Atrato in Colombia, and the Ganga and Yamuna rivers in India,” according to The Revelator. For survival, the paradigm of rights and justice is shifting as nature poses to take a righteous place as an entity in our legal system through a rights-based approach to environmentalism. Environmental justice saw two victories in our legal system in last week alone. The U.S. District Court in Montana ruled that the Interior Department under former Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke acted illegally when it sought to overturn a 2016 federal ban on coal mining on public lands. More than “40% of all coal mined in the United States comes from federal land, and when burned it generates roughly 10% of the country’s total greenhouse gas emissions,” according to The New York Times. While the current White House Administration has pushed to open federal lands to the destructive forces of the fossil fuel industry, 2020 candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has in contrast proposed opening the lands to the renewable energy. Positions on climate change must be the litmus test for any elected official. Also, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit mandated that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finally takes action to fulfill the demands from environmental groups to ban chlorpyrifos, a toxic pesticide. Success in the legal system and extending the right to justice demands grassroots supports and democratic reform for real progress to be made. Environmental justice is not isolated from the movements of racial and economic justice since the “ecological problems cannot be understood, let alone solved, without a careful understanding of our existing society and the irrationalities that dominate it,” Bookchin said. Earth Day was not simply a day to flaunt picturesque vistas from your latest vacation. It was meant to be a day of reevaluation, recognition and action. There is no room for moderates and inaction on this moving train. The time for change is now.
The Daily Targum’s editorials represent the views of the majority of the 151st editorial board. Columns, cartoons and letters do not necessarily reflect the views of the Targum Publishing Company or its staff.
April 24, 2019
Opinions Page 7
Colorblindness will not solve our societal problems FEMINISM IN THE WORLD MARIELIS MEJIA
T
he concept of colorblindness demands that color and race are no longer seen as classifications by which people can be denied certain opportunities. Living in a colorblind society demands that governmental policies reject ideas of discrimination and enforce ideas of a race-neutral world. This approach reframes the question surrounding how people experience the world. Certain people no longer have to experience their lives in terms of race and color, but rather live their lives as neutral. “Colorblindness is an individual and social idea based upon two primar y notions: (1) that to overtly ignore a person’s race alleviates the possible racism that might other wise operate and (2) that the equal opportunity structure of U.S. society means that failures among various racial groups to achieve can be best explained by deficiencies in individuals rather than by inequities that result from group membership,” according to “Encyclopedia of the Social and Cultural Foundations of Education.” The truth is that a “colorblind society”
is only beneficial to those that are already seen as the standard in society. Every person who is not white and belongs to a different racial class, culture or has a different skin color is considered as an “other.” Belonging to America’s white standard means that you do not have to acknowledge your race. You ARE the only race, and everything else is the “other” that exists outside of privilege.
Ignoring race and color is not the same as not being able to see it. It is just not possible for a person to be fully unable to see race. Institutional implications that run deep throughout history do not allow bias to just disappear because one refuses to acknowledge them. By taking a colorblind approach, we only reaffirm racial inequalities that exist rather than acknowledging them and working
“By taking a colorblind approach, we only reaffirm racial inequalities that exist rather than acknowledging them and working toward a more equal society. Ignoring a system of oppression based on race is not possible, because an unracialized system does not exist. ” The truth is that to some race can be something uncomfor table to speak about, but this does not mean that we get to discount people’s experiences that are directly connected to racism and colorism. Colorblindness is an easy way out of these dif ficult conversations that prevents us from being able to critically see issues in society that dispropor tionally af fect the “other” while benefiting the standard.
toward a more equal society. Ignoring a system of oppression based on race is not possible, because an unracialized system does not exist. We do not get to ignore historical oppression that still greatly ef fects people in society. Lack of awareness of white privilege creates a demand for a colorblind society that makes it more appealing to those not belonging to the “other.”
Dehumanizing the experiences of those that have to live in the status of the “other” is done by purposely ignoring issues of surrounding race and color. These issues include institutional racism in forms of mass incarceration of Black people, higherthan-average death rates of women of color during childbir th, the ability to walk down the street while Black, being barred from wearing hair in its natural form in the workplace and in so many other ways that transcend “normal” day-to-day interactions. People of color are those that belong to the “other.” They are forced into this otherness because their color, race and culture, which are not seen as the American standard. Falling outside of the white standard that America has created makes the experiences of those belonging to the “other” exclusive to them, because racialized experiences are not felt by the standard. A colorblind society discredits the experiences of the “other” and continues to validate the experiences of the standard. Marielis Mejia is a School of Arts and Sciences sophomore majoring in political science and women’s and gender studies. Her column, “Feminism In The World,” runs alternating Wednesdays.
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April 24, 2019
Explaining the Met Gala's theme, 'Camp: Notes on Fashion' MALIHA KHAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Every year, the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met) hosts one of the most acclaimed events in pop culture: the Met Gala. In an effort to commemorate the grand opening of the Costume Institute’s annual fashion exhibit, the banquet takes place in the museum itself. Musical luminaries and Hollywood big-names are invited to participate in an evening in which they can show off their unique style while donating money in support of art. Organized by the world’s leading fashion publication, Vogue, the magazine’s staff is in charge of the benefit committee as well as the guest list. In addition, after seeking approval from her superiors, Anna Wintour, Vogue’s editor-in-chief, proceeds to initiate a plan for the theme. The Met is notorious for its distinct themes. For instance, the theme for last year’s gala was “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and Catholic Imagination.” In each of their looks, celebrities incorporated Catholic symbols in their attire, as the faith was their main source of inspiration. This year, on the other hand, the theme is “Camp: Notes on Fashion.” As the word “camp” is mentioned, many people may be in-
clined to believe that this year’s theme calls for longline parkas, shabby t-shirts and boxy cargo shorts. Wrong. This theme does not resemble the attire one would wear on a camping trip, in fact it's quite the opposite. “Camp: Notes on Fashion” is a style of dress in which people are encouraged to wear “exaggerated” forms of clothing, allowing this year’s gala to be extraordinarily extravagant. To break it down, “camp” is inspired by writer and scholar Susan Sontag’s 1964 essay "Notes on 'Camp'", which defines the word as “love of the unnatural: of artifice and exaggeration.” If you’re still puzzled, let’s examine the meaning of “camp” in other artistic mediums. In theatrical performances, literature, music or art in general, it's associated with having a sort of aesthetic value. Rather than focus on the idea, "camp" revels in dramatization. The louder, the better. An example of such an ensemble that may fit this category is a gown stretching 25 feet, gathered in tulle and made to sit on a woman’s body. Yes, it doesn’t exactly sound comfortable, but it fits the theme. Eschewing the typical “less is more” mindset, opulence is the goal. If you can recall, a couple months back, a series of dresses
shown on the runway went viral. Shown in the Viktor and Rolf Spring Summer 2019 Couture Collection, women wore excessively large dresses with phrases written on the front. Some said “No Photos Please,” or “I’m not shy, I just don’t like you.” These serve as examples of “camp” fashion as they're outlandish and not typically worn by people. As for the men, the same conditions apply. In order to comply with the “camp” theme, the outfit
must be overstated. An example can range anywhere from a snazzy shirt paired with baggy overalls, or a fitted waistcoat over an insanely long jacket. To make it even more “camp,” men may wear clothing marked by words, similar to the dresses in the Viktor and Rolf Spring Summer 2019 Couture Collection,. I imagine that the world is curious to see what kinds of looks the celebrities choose for this year’s MET Gala, especially since the
theme highlights the beauty of horrific distaste. As someone who is knowledgeable of the subject, I would expect stars such as Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Cardi B and Chadwick Boseman to wholeheartedly prepare for this event, as they did the year before. On May 6, 2019 you will be able to witness firsthand how certain celebrities rock their take on “camp” fashion. Similar to previous years, I’m sure they won’t disappoint.
Anna Wintour (left), Vogue's editor-in-chief, was likely inspired by Susan Sontag's (right) 1964 essay "Notes on 'Camp.'" This year, we should expect exceptionally extravagant outfits. TWITTER
Rampant rewinders risk monotony, but revel in familiar content RHEA SWAIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Despite the fact that streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu and HBO Go are constantly releasing fresh content for us to watch, we often gravitate toward watching oldies but goodies. The pressure to catch up on new content is overwhelming, so instead we find solace in old content that we’ve watched before. Trying new things is fun, but then again, there is always joy in the familiar. Why watch that new show your friends have been raving about when you can binge reruns of “Friends” or “Seinfeld?" Nostalgia plays an important role in how and why we come back to our favorite shows, movies, music and books. The idea of reminiscing on childhood and adolescence when we are well into adulthood is therapeutic and somewhat existential. We love and enjoy the things we grew up on, and revisiting these things evokes warm and fuzzy feelings. If a movie or TV series is perceived as objectively good and memorable by someone, it’s likely that they would want to relive their experience with it. We get the opportunity to notice more plot-holes and savor the nuances in storylines we love. Reliving pop cultural experiences can manifest in the form of
traditions, like watching “Home Alone” during the holidays, or even addictions, like watching all seven seasons of “Gossip Girl” on loop for the rest of eternity. Adishi Ranjan, a School of Arts and Sciences first-year, believes that we rewatch content because we attribute sentimental value to them. “The main reason I rewatch stuff is to feel nostalgia. In a lot of the shows I watch, I know of different episodes that can satisfy
certain moods. I’ll watch a certain type of episode to recreate an emotion I want to feel,” she said. Additionally, boredom and convenience are significant aspects of habitually consuming the same media content. We can get a lot of passive work — spring cleaning or cooking — done when we have an enjoyable and familiar TV show playing as white noise in the background. “I know almost all the words to the Harry Potter films because
The mix of nostalgia and comfort can lead to becoming a serial repeater, like someone who would rather revisit a classic Studio Ghibli film than find something new to watch. INSTAGRAM
I’ve watched them so many times since I was a kid. I don’t really have to put a lot of thought into watching them, so I can concentrate on doing passive work. For active work, I sometimes like listening to the Harry Potter series’ soundtrack so I can still get some sense of nostalgia,” Ranjan said. Another reason why we return to the same content over and over again is to gain new perspectives on the stories and characters we grew up with. For instance, I was recently told that the name for Wilmer Valderrama’s enigmatic and goofy character Fez in “That ‘70s Show” stood for "Foreign Exchange Student." While this conceptually made sense, it still surprised me greatly. Interestingly, the on-screen characters and relationships that we idealized growing up change when we become more self-aware adults. For example, at the time that two quintessential shows about American friendships — “Friends” and “How I Met Your Mother” — were released, the relationships of Ross and Rachel and Ted and Robin were highly romanticized by writers on the show. Looking back on these shows in 2019, many fans of both shows can come to a consensus that these relationships were at times very toxic. In retrospect, a multitude of classic TV shows and movies
we enjoy — particularly those that come under the beloved and popular genre of romantic comedies — are morally and logically flawed, lack diverse casts and perpetuate terrible stereotypes that still persist in media and society today. Fortunately, the backward tropes of the past are changing. Romantic comedies in the past few years have evolved for the better, as seen in films like Netflix’s diverse “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” and the millennial-empowering chick flick “Someone Great.” While serial repetition is a fun pastime, there may come a point where we eventually reach our saturation point. It’s important not to neglect the greatest of the latest content out there. “I don’t think I’m missing out on new content because I still watch newer shows like ‘Jane the Virgin’ and ‘On My Block.’ However, I don’t really find myself attached to these shows the way I feel attached to ‘How I Met Your Mother.’ I like watching older shows because it’s kind of like learning about what happened in a certain era through interesting historical references in the show,” Ranjan said. It seems like a healthy mix of old and new makes for a well-rounded reading, watching or listening experience.
DIVERSIONS
April 24, 2019
Mark Tatulli Horoscopes
Lio
Page 9 Eugenia Last
Happy Birthday: Share your adventures and thoughts with the people you love. Turn this into a productive year personally and professionally. Mix business with pleasure, bring unity and stabilization into focus. Fine-tune your life to encourage less stress and more progress. Plan trips or educational pursuits that will be enlightening and push you in a positive direction. Your numbers are 4, 12, 20, 24, 33, 38, 45.
Over The Hedge
T. Lewis and M. Fry
Non Sequitur
Wiley
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Don’t let emotional matters interfere with your progress. Separate your personal life from your professional, and channel pent-up energy into something constructive. A financial gain is possible if you negotiate on your own behalf. 2 stars TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Set a pace you can handle. Don’t feel pressured to make a change that you aren’t ready to make. Sort through what’s happened in the past, and eliminate anything you think might stand in your way or ruin your day. 5 stars GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Exaggerating will get you into trouble. Stick to the truth, and be transparent regarding your intentions. Charm alone will not be enough to convince others to believe you or follow your example. Legal and health matters will need to be handled with accuracy. 3 stars CANCER (June 21-July 22): An emotional conversation with a personal or professional partner will result in an unexpected but beneficial change. Let what transpires run its course, and you will come out on top. Experience will help you move forward without looking back. 3 stars
Pearls Before Swine
Stephan Pastis
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Let what others do be your guide. What you learn through observation and asking questions will help you avoid getting involved in someone else’s drama. Don’t gossip or give others insight into your thoughts and feelings. 3 stars VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): How you deal with change will make a difference to the way others perceive you. An honest assessment and approach will get the best response from those you want to attract, and it will discourage those you want to avoid. 5 stars
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): No one is perfect, so before you take on a dispute that can damage an important relationship, consider alternative ways to handle the situation. Using compliments to offset criticism will help you avoid a rift or alienation. 2 stars SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): An encounter you experience or information you are given will change your attitude regarding your health and how fit you are. Take a quiz that will help you figure out the best way to make physical, emotional and mental improvements. 3 stars SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): The changes you make at home or to the way you live or handle important relationships will get you moving in a better direction. Facing facts and making positive adjustments will ease stress. Romance is in the stars. 3 stars CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Do what you can to improve your living arrangements. An innovative change will help you cut costs, giving you greater financial freedom. Handle your investments personally. Don’t pay for someone else’s mistake. Take better care of your health. 3 stars AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Moderation will be required if you intend to stick to your fitness goals. Exercise and proper diet should not be foregone because you are tempted to indulge with your bestie. Set an example instead of giving in to an indulgent request. 3 stars PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Make positive changes that will help you up your qualifications or improve your reputation. Refuse to get involved in someone else’s battle or to believe everything you are told. Avoid conflict, excess and offering a false impression. 4 stars
©2018 By Eugenia Last distributed by Universal Uclick
Universal Crossword ACROSS 1 “In that event ...”
61 Roaring literary symbol in 25-Across
5 Cheetah markings
62 Golden Knights’ org.
10 Map app relative
63 Curriculum divisions
13 Ukraine’s capital
64 Red Muppet
14 “Tomb Raider” actress Vikander 15 Sturdy literary symbol in 42-Across 16 Youth-Dew cosmetician 18 Marseille assent
DOWN 1 ‘50s president 2 Crushing literary symbol in 55-Across
19 Delights
3 Meyers of late-night
20 “One of ___ days ...”
4 Broken off
22 Bay Area baggage code
5 Winding Winter Olympics event
23 Defended oneself, skunk-style
6 Any of 12 popes
25 Annually celebrated promotions? 7 Repetitive condition, briefly 30 Hall rug
8 Attachment
31 Relatives
9 “No Exit” playwright
32 Quest for
10 Like hot fudge
36 Award for “Green Book”
11 (II) button
37 Tiny antenna user
12 Competed in a 5-Down
38 Event with spirits
38 Do a crossword, say
14 Totally supporting
40 Sliced dessert
39 Neighbor of Libya
17 Michael once in charge
41 “Cheers!” and others
40 Supporting
of Mickey
43 Four-armed Hindu god
41 Gadget enthusiast
21 Padded footstool
44 Dissertation
42 Bond film with a Duran
23 Fit of pique
45 Williams on MSNBC
Duran theme song
24 Sty or stylus
46 Gophers dig it
45 Closest friends, slangily
25 Swamp snapper, for short
47 Tempered literary symbol
48 Solo who said “Chewie,
26 Teeming with greenery
in 16-Across
27 Native Peruvian
50 Scandalous gossip
49 Does a critic’s job
28 Meeting one’s match?
51 Creator of Perry and Della
50 Lose altitude
29 “Tell me about it!”
52 ___ Patrick Harris
54 Fury
33 K-12
53 Pessimistic prophecy
55 Old-time players
34 Diabolical
56 Charge carrier
59 Chowed down
35 Hull backbone
57 “Casual” day: Abbr.
60 Martial artist Chuck
37 Shield-bearing Greek god
58 ___-Caps
we’re home!”
Yesterday’s Solution
Yesterday’s Solution
Page 10
April 24, 2019
Spotlight Knight Warren Choi JAKE SCHMIED ASSOCIATE SPORTS EDITOR
It has been more than a decade since Rutgers fielded men’s and women’s fencing teams at the NCAA Division I level. The Rutgers Athletics went out to cut the teams, along with its oldest sport, men’s crew, back in 20062007, an academic year where the football team was ranked No. 16 in the nation. Since then, the Scarlet Knights have been relegated to fence at the club level, it has accepted any students regardless of experience to join. On the club’s getINVOLVED page, it “offers recreational memberships as well as competitive memberships.” Before Warren Choi, a Rutgers Business School junior and president of the club fencing team, captured the sabre title at this year’s United States Associate of Collegiate Fencing Clubs (USACFC) National Championships, on April 7, he first had to coordinate the travel logistics to Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where the event was being held. While the club team has two coaches — one for practice and one for tournaments — Choi is involved on the planning side. Not only does he coordinate lodging and food for the individuals traveling to competitions, but he responds to tournament invitations with the club’s roster and payments for a particular tournament. “The coaches now, they supervise everything,” Choi said. “For practices, the coaches just coach. They don’t really do the communication between other clubs and tournaments.” Choi’s love of fencing came from his father, Franky, who fenced at Temple University. When his father went to boarding school in England, he had to choose a sport, so he chose fencing, the modern version that was established in England before the Revolutionary War with the United States. The tradition of fencing in the Choi household continued when Franky Choi got his two sons — Andrew and Warren — involved in the sport, when they were young. They first started at foil, where points are awarded by touching the opponent’s electrically conductive lamé. Warren Choi started fencing foil in fourth grade before he made the decision to follow his brother and make the switch to sabre, the more fast-paced out of the three weapons. Warren Choi honed his craft at Mr. Ma’s Fencing Academy, an affiliate of New Jersey Fencing Alliance. It was there that Warren Choi competed as an individual at FASJ tournaments within and outside of New Jersey. “There wasn’t a lot of fencing (in South Jersey). Not many of the high schools really had fencing there,” Warren Choi said. After six years as a sabre, Choi received his “A” rating as a 16-year-old after finishing in
eighth place at a competition, the highest ranking a fencer can attain, during his junior year of high school. Transitioning from high school to college, Warren Choi didn’t know much about the fencing club. After looking it up online, he attended one club fencing practice at the Loree Gymnasium on Douglass campus, and found himself enjoying the sport he had grown up with. As a freshman, Choi did not get a chance to compete in the Temple Open, a tournament at his father’s alma mater that he would fence in the last two years. When he started out, he was already the “A” strip. As he has grown accustomed to college fencers, Warren Choi has adjusted his style based on the different levels of experience his opponents have. For sabre, he noticed that if they are a “D”-rated fencer or under, he can beat them with pure speed. If they are above “C,” then he utilizes both speed and technique when fencing opponents of that level. “In college, it’s a separation between the best fencers and the lower fencers,” Warren Choi said. “It’s mainly getting used to dif ferent fencers at college tournaments.” At the USACFC National Championships, Warren Choi won at the national level comprised of 36 other collegiate fencing clubs at the two-day event, on April 6 and April 7, at the Sportsplex in Bucks County. The first day consisted of 12team pools, with each “A,” “B” and “C” strip fencer squaring off against the same ratings. On the first day, Choi earned the No. 1 seed in the sabre section after fencing 12 bouts on the first day, earning a direct-elimination round bye. After his opponent and teammate, David Natanov, a School of Arts and Sciences sophomore withdrew in the first match of the elimination round, Warren Choi edged out Indiana’s Mark Richmond before facing his hardest bout of the day against South Carolina’s Carl Mellone in the semi-final round. The bout against Mellone proved to be the most challenging for Warren Choi. But, as his coach was Mellone’s coach in high school, he was able to modify his strategy of attack in preparation to beat him. In the finals bout, Warren Choi defeated Indiana’s Charles Decesaris, 15-13, before a main portion of it was tied. The first half of the finals bout, Warren Choi saw himself down 7-2, before bringing the score to 8-6 at halftime. The second day started at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday and lasted until 7:30 p.m., with 10-minute breaks in between. When Warren Choi was not on the fencing strip, there was much time spent waiting around. “The final bout wasn’t as hard, but I was just so tired at that point,” he said. “By the very last point, I wanted to stop so bad.”
April 24, 2019
Page 11
SCORES Campbell, Mooers competitively push each other to reach personal bests CONTINUED FROM BACK
Mooers, in his junior year last season, threw 53.65 meters at the Sam Howell Invitational. He also threw for 51.91 meters at the Metropolitan Championships in 2018. THE DAILY TARGUM / APRIL 2016
STANDING Breaking down Knights’ scenarios for postseason tournaments CONTINUED FROM BACK (11-2, 3-1), who are in second place, in the semifinals. Maryland mounted a late comeback in a 16-13 win over the Knights two weeks ago at HighPoint.com Stadium, but Rutgers played a stellar half of lacrosse and showed that it could contain elite attackers Logan Wisnauskas and Jared Bernhardt.
NCAA TOURNAMENT AT-LARGE BID
The ultimate goal for the Knights remains unchanged, and it’s to qualify for the program’s first NCAA Tournament in 15 years. There are two paths that lead to that outcome at this point. They either win the Big Ten Tournament outright and earn an automatic bid, or try to earn one of the seven at-large bids awarded by the Selection Committee on May 5.
While an automatic bid is the most straightforward path to the tournament, winning two straight games against ranked opponents will be a tall task for Rutgers, which has a 1-5 record against top-20 teams. Although it has the talent and potential to defeat any team in the country, it has yet to demonstrate the consistency needed to take home a Big Ten title. This leaves a more complicated and daunting alternative. The Knights wait for Selection Sunday and let their resumes do the talking. While Rutgers has struggled when facing ranked opponents, it has an upset over then-No.4 Ohio State and quality unranked wins against teams like Princeton under its belt. As a result, the Knights are currently ranked 22nd in the country in the RPI rankings. Using last year’s tournament field as a guideline, the lowest-ranked RPI
has made a huge impact on the team. In his freshman year, he posted eighth, fifth and sixth-place finishes at different meets. Then in his second year, he earned two four th-place and two fifth-place finishes as well as a personal record. Within just two years, Mooers was able to go from eighth place to four th at the Metropolitan Championships. He had been alternating between hammer, weight and discus-throwing in his first two years, but eventually he found something he started to excel in — discus. Starting his junior year, Mooers had been racking up near first-place finishes with throws of 53.65 meters at the Sam Howell Invitational and 51.91 meters at the Metropolitan Outdoor Track and Field Championships. It was clear that he was improving, and quickly. Starting his senior year, he has been put up against tough competition, like one of his own teammates: sophomore Jason Campbell. While Mooers took second place at the first meet of the this season at the USF Bulls Invitational with a 51.22 meter finish, Campbell had still not made an appearance. Soon after, at the first Sam Howell Invitational of this season, Campbell threw a 52.34 meter disc against Mooers’s 54.35 meters. Mooers has been on a winning streak lately with three first-place wins at the past three meets. Campbell has earned second place at both the Sam Howell Invitational and the Metropolitan Championships, right behind Mooers. But, Campbell earned a fifth-place finish at the
Virginia Challenge with a throw of 50.17 meters. Both Mooers and Campbell are neck and neck, and are progressing even within this year. Having a teammate to contend wtih at every meet sure encourages tougher competition between the two. There is no doubt that both Mooers and Campbell are trying to one-up the other, but there is definitely encouragement happening as well. Mooers scored two personal records, one broken at the Metropolitan Championships, and one at the most recent Virginia Challenge. Campbell also scored a personal record at the Sam Howell Invitational, as well as the Metropolitan Championships right off the bat. Campbell still has a few more years left before becoming a senior. With only one meet left before the Big Ten Championships in Iowa City, Iowa, Mooers has a good chance to earn first place, especially after the success he has been having in the past three meets. Campbell is also in a position to score highly, or maybe even break Mooers’s first-place streak. The Penn Relays, this Friday and Saturday, will be Mooers’s last opportunity to compete in a school-hosted meet. He still has the Big Ten Championships, NCAA Preliminaries and potentially the NCAA Championships to go. The men’s and women’s teams will both travel to Philadelphia for the Penn Relays, where some of the best competition in the Northeast will be prior to the Big Ten and NCAA Championships to prepare. For updates on the Rutgers track and field teams, follow @TargumSports on Twitter.
team to receive an at-large from the Selection Committee was Villanova at 12. If the season ended today, Rutgers would be on the outside looking in. That being said, qualifying for the Big Ten Tournament offers the Knights a chance to improve their resumes, as they will almost certainly face a top 2 opponent in the semifinal. If they can make it to the title game — and/or upset the Lions in the regular season finale — Rutgers could use an impressive finish to force the committee to give it a serious look on Selection Sunday. While the danger of missing a home-field Big Ten Tournament no longer looms over the Knights, they still find themselves on the outside looking in regarding postseason scenarios. With the conference tournament bid locked up, it’s crucial for Rutgers to show up against a big time team and prove that it belongs with the best in college lacrosse. For updates on the Rutgers men’s lacrosse team, follow @TargumSports on Twitter.
Sophomore attack Adam Charalambides leads the team with 43 goals on the season. CURSTINE GUEVARRA / FBEURARY 2019
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RUTGERS UNIVERSITY—NEW BRUNSWICK
SPORTS
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“The final bout wasn’t as hard, but I was just so tired at that point ... By the very last point, I wanted to stop so bad.” — Junior fencer Warren Choi
WEDNESDAY APRIL 24, 2019
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MEN’S LACROSSE RUTGERS TO FACE TOP TEAM IN COUNTRY WITH NCAA TOURNAMENT AMBITIONS
Knights conference, national standing at stake CHIRS TSAKONAS CORRESPONDENT
Following this past Saturday’s dramatic Senior Day win over Michigan, the Rutgers men’s lacrosse team has officially clinched a top-four finish in the Big Ten standings, earning a spot in the Big Ten Tournament with a game to play. For the Scarlet Knights (7-6, 2-2), the immediate question heading into the last week of the season is who they will face in the semifinals next Thursday. Rutgers currently sits in third place heading into the final weekend, with losses to No. 2 Maryland and No. 4 Johns Hopkins in conference play.
BIG TEN TOURNAMENT SEEDING
The last chance for the Knights to boost their record before the tournament will come on Saturday afternoon, when they travel to University Park, Pennsylvania to take on No. 1 Penn State, who is undefeated through four Big Ten games. The Nittany Lions (11-1, 4-0) have taken college lacrosse by storm with an uptempo, high-efficiency attack led by Grant Ament and Mac O’Keefe. If Rutgers manages to take down Penn State in the finale, it will finish with a Big Ten record of 3-2 and clinch third in the conference, setting up a rematch with the Terrapins SEE STANDING ON PAGE 11
Sophomore midfielder Zackary Franckowiak has picked up 18 ground balls this season. He had a career-high three ground balls against Syracuse. GARRETT STEFFE / ASSOCIATE PHOTO EDITOR / APRIL 2019
TRACK AND FIELD MOOERS POSTS PERSONAL RECORD, CAMPBELL JUMPS FOUR SPOTS
Mooers, Campbell post career-best scores DELANEY ZUBRICK STAFF WRITER
When the Rutgers track and field teams traveled to Charlottesville, Virginia for the Virginia Challenge, there were only a few team members of the men’s and women’s teams that competed. There was a first-place win, which senior John Mooers earned in the discus event. Mooers posted a personal record at this meet, with a throw of 54.39 meters. He was also able to nab a first place-finish against some of the toughest competition across the country. His following competitors came from Navy, Liberty and Notre Dame, as well as another Scarlet Knight. Second-place finisher Sean Brennan of Navy threw disc 53.96 meters, which was also a personal record for himself. Liberty’s Jose Ballivian threw a 51.04-meter disc, in third place. All three athletes surpassed, or nearly surpassed their personal records, which shows how tough the competition was at this meet. Mooers has been at Rutgers all four years of his college career, and Senior John Mooers posted a personal record in the discus with a throw of 54.39 meters. He earned a first-place finish this past weekend at the Virginia Challenge. THE DAILY TARGUM / APRIL 2016
KNIGHTS SCHEDULE
EXTRA POINT KATIE WINGERT, freshman on the softball team, hit a walk-off home run to complete a 6-run comeback and a sweep of conference rival Maryland at home. Wingert led off the bottom of the eighth inning, and on a 2-2 count hit a pitch to the left field foul pole.
SEE SCORES ON PAGE 11
MLB SCORES
BASEBALL
Iona
Today 3 p.m., Bainton Field
Detroit Boston
7 4
TRACK AND FIELD
Penn Relays
Tomorrow, All Day, Philadelphia, Pa.
Miami Cleveland
3 1
TENNIS
Big Ten Championships
Tomorrow, All Day, Lincoln, Ne.
Atlanta Cincinnati
6 7