The Daily Targum 2011-02-28

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THE DAILY TARGUM Vo l u m e 1 4 2 , N u m b e r 9 7

S E R V I N G

T H E

R U T G E R S

C O M M U N I T Y

S I N C E

MONDAY FEBRUARY 28, 2011

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Today: Rain

ROLLIN’ ON THE RIVER

High: 60 • Low: 31

The Rutgers women’s basketball team completed a 12-win season on the Banks with a win Saturday afternoon, capping the program’s best home record since the 2007-08 season.

Activists, FLA president discuss worker concerns BY KRISTINE CHOI CONTRIBUTING WRITER

JILLIAN STEAD

N.J. union supporters crowd the New Jersey State House steps Saturday to support Wisconsin’s unionized workers protesting against Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s decision to cut collective bargaining.

Union workers rally in Trenton BY JOSHUA ROSENAU STAFF WRITER

A windy, rainy Saturday was not enough to keep thousands of union boosters from the New Jersey State House steps in Trenton where they assembled in solidarity with Wisconsin’s embattled workers. “Collective bargaining is a human right, a moral right, an ethical right and an American right,” said Stephanie Bloomingdale, secretary-treasurer of the Wisconsin State American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) in her address to the crowd. Bloomingdale’s attendance at the event linked New Jersey’s unionized workers with those in Wisconsin, where Republican Gov. Scott Walker has pledged to abolish the rights of collective bargaining for some union organizations. The New Jersey State AFL-CIO sponsored the event, which hosted

INDEX

speakers from several local and national labor organizations. “This is about collective bargaining, and ever ybody realizes it,” said James Heekey, a member of the Communications Workers of America, who drove from Mar yland to attend the rally. “We’re against bypassing the bargaining process, and we’re further against nullifying the right to bargain.” Pressure for unions to make concessions, including concessions to the process of collective bargaining, mounted as state governments fight to stay financially solvent, said Lorraine LittleVascallo, a tea party advocate. “I am sick and tired of fiscal irresponsibility,” said Little-Vascallo, a former teacher in Camden, N.J. “We’ve got to get our fiscal house in order.” Little-Vascallo came to the rally fully clad in dollar-bill-print clothing, complete with a dollar-bill tiara and a homemade sign that read, “Union Crybabies.”

“This is all about the widening disparity between the haves and the have nots,” said New Jersey State Assemblyman John F. McKeon of West Orange. “We can’t just balance the budget on the backs of regular people.” McKeon supports the Millionaires Tax, which would raise taxes on households earning more than $1 million a year. If enacted, the law would affect about 14,000 N.J. residents and generate almost $700 million in state revenue, McKeon said. Unionized teachers, who Gov. Chris Christie has expressed as targets of the cuts, were also present in the crowd. “Does a sixth-grade teacher need to be told she is greedy?” said Vice President of the National Education Association Lilly Eskelson in a speech. “You know we just finished a study, and you would be shocked to learn how

SEE RALLY ON PAGE 4

As a response to student concerns, the University’s administration held a meeting Friday afternoon with Fair Labor Association (FLA) President and CEO Auret van Heerden to analyze workers’ rights. Rutgers University Students Against Sweatshops (RUSAS) began a campaign last fall urging the University to become independent from the FLA due to matters regarding the organization’s role in protecting the rights of workers. “We’ve been constantly pressuring President Richard L. McCormick and the University to disaffiliate from the FLA,” said Zachar y Lerner, president of RUSAS. “Numerous times we’ve gone to President McCormick’s office, numerous times hand delivered the letters and done protests.”

One of the main concerns presented during the meeting in Winants Hall on the College Avenue campus was the case of Russell Athletic and the unjust treatment of workers, said Lerner, a School of Arts and Sciences senior. Although the FLA released a report of the situation completed by one of their investigators, the FLA failed to respond to the circumstances in an appropriate manner, he said. “It wasn’t until the FLA received pressure from NGOs and student groups that people started focusing on it,” Lerner said. “Despite all the evidence against Russell Athletic, the FLA only suspended them instead of kicking them out.” Members of RUSAS used charts and graphs to show statistics and compare findings from the

SEE CONCERNS ON PAGE 5

SCOTT TSAI / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

RUSAS members meet with Fair Labor Association CEO Auret van Heerden Friday to talk about issues regarding the treatment of sweatshop workers.

GRE changes to take place this summer

SPINNING SOUNDS AROUND

UNIVERSITY The mock trial team will compete at the Open Round Tournament during spring break in Washington, D.C.

BY SAMIRA FARID CONTRIBUTING WRITER

OPINIONS Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-NY, wants to sell a Queens statue on Craigslist because he finds it sexist.

UNIVERSITY . . . . . . . 3 METRO . . . . . . . . . . 8 OPINIONS . . . . . . . 10 DIVERSIONS . . . . . . 12 CLASSIFIEDS . . . . . . 14 SPORTS . . . . . . BACK

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JEFFREY LAZARO / ASSOCIATE PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR

University a capella group OrphanSporks mixes up its sound Saturday at the SporksOrphan concert in Van Dyck Hall on the College Avenue campus where the male and female solos were switched.

For students who plan to attend graduate school, the College Board revised the GRE exam into a four-hour-long test that will come into effect this summer. Students hoping to enroll in graduate and business schools next fall will have the option of taking the old GRE now. But those applying after July 31 must take the new GRE, said Lee Weiss, the director of graduate programs at Kaplan Inc. Weiss said the new GRE will be four hours long and more difficult, complex and challenging. “This is the biggest change in the history of the GRE,” Weiss said. Weiss believes people might be happier with the new GRE because the vocabular y for the verbal section will be tested in context and students can use an onscreen calculator for math.

SEE SUMMER ON PAGE 4


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