Volume 76 | Issue 18 THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF RUTGERS-NEWARK February 2, 2011

NeWs

oPINIoN

lIFe & leIsure

sPorTs

Egypt in turmoil

Obama highlights importance of higher education

Egyptian anti-government activists chant slogans as they confront riot police during a protest on the May 15 bridge in Cairo, Egypt. Photo by Khalil Hamra.

By Shashwat Davestaff Writer

President Barack Obama covered several issues of national impor-tance in his annual State of the Union address but none was giv-

en more importance than the benefits of higher education and how it can aide in the prosperity of our nation; especially in these tough economic times.

Obama started off the education por-tion of the speech by criticizing our current educational system. “The quality of our math and science education lags behind many other nations,” he said. “America has fallen to 9th in the proportion of young people with a college degree.”

According to White House data, 1 in 4 American students do not graduate high school and the proportion of young Ameri-cans with college degrees is just over 40 percent, significantly lower than the near 60 percent rate in neighboring Canada.

“The education race doesn’t end with a high school diploma,” said the Presi-dent. “To compete, higher education must

be within reach of every American. That’s why we’ve ended the unwarranted taxpay-er subsidies that went to banks, and used the savings to make college affordable for millions of students. And this year, I ask Congress to go further, and make perma-nent our tuition tax credit – worth $10,000 for four years of college.” According to White House data, almost $60 billion in tax credit has reached students in the form of Pell Grants.

Senior, Khushboo Kathrani, an un-dergraduate management major, comment-ed on the Obama’s plan by saying, “It’s not enough!.. I mean personally, it doesn’t make a difference to me because I got lucky since work covers my tuition, but I know there are other people that have to pay ev-ery single penny out of their pocket....and even though their parents don’t make a lot, they still don’t get financial aid so although $2500 helps, it’s not enough.”

See SPEECH, Page 2

Student tax credit: government could owe you money

By Nadia Kadristaff Writer

Thousands of protestors have gath-ered in major cities of Egypt this past week, demanding for a resig-nation of President Hosni Mubarak

and his government. Fueled by their Tuni-sian neighbors’ recent revolution, Egyp-tians have disregarded curfews and have set up in the streets of Cairo, Alexandria and various towns and cities, have created chaos and unrest. In the midst of this chaos, vandals have taken advantage by looting in grand museums and stores of Egypt. The Cairo airport has been bombarded with tourists and foreign citizens eager to flee Egypt’s growing chaos. The United States, along with several other countries, has sent planes to evacuate their citizens.

Starting Tuesday, Jan. 25, Egyp-tians have begun tearing down President Mubarak’s posters and demanding him to resign after 30 years of rule. Protesters say that under Mubarak’s rule, there are no po-litical freedoms and Egyptians are poorer than ever. Organizers called the protest, “the day of revolution against torture, pov-erty, corruption and unemployment.” Vio-lence and chaos led up to deaths by Friday, where the Egyptian government cut the internet across the entire country through-out the early morning, in order to silence protestors, a step that’s rare event among authoritarian governments.

By Friday evening, protestors burned down the ruling party’s headquarters and Monday, President Mubarak had an-nounced an entire new line up for his Cabi-net, a move that has not influenced the de-mands of protestors. More than 100 people have died during protests aimed at end-ing Mubarak’s 30-year-old rule, with the outcome appearing to depend greatly on whatever steps are to be taken by the mili-tary. Banners that say, “Choose Egypt or Mubarak,” have been set for the Air Force and military. Now, soldiers have looked on without taking action, which would have been inconceivable a week ago.

Crowds were building in central Tahrir Square Monday with protesters camping out through the night and num-bers had reached about 1,000 by morning. They had already begun chants of “Down, Down, Mubarak” and “Gam¬al, tell your father the people hate you,” a reference to Mubarak’s son who had been seen as a pos-sible future leader.

Protesters, who blame the Mubarak regime for widespread poverty, inflation and official indifference and brutality, called for a general strike on Monday.

“We don’t want life to go back to nor-mal until Mubarak leaves. We want people to abandon their jobs until he leaves,” Israa Abdel-Fattah, one of the protest organiz-ers and one of the founders of the April 6 group, a grass-roots movement of young people that has been pushing for democrat-ic reform since 2008.

Nobel laureate and leading reform advocate Mohammad ElBaradei has joined the revolutionaries and says, “You are the owners of this revolution. You are the fu-ture. Our essential demand is the departure of the regime and the beginning of a new Egypt in which every Egyptian lives in vir-tue, freedom and dignity.”

They are aiming to hold a 1 million-person march in the capital Tuesday to de-mand the resignation of Egypt’s 82-year-old ruler, said Mahmoud El-Said, one of the organizers.

For the United States, one of its stron-gest allies is uprising. Egypt is the second country, after Israel, to receive the most U.S. foreign aid and military assistance. It is also one of two Arab nations, along with Jordan, to strike peace deals with Israel and wields significant influence in the region. If political unrest continues, the U.S is un-sure of how much the peace treaty will be honored.

See EGYPT, Page 2

By Naina Kamathstaff Writer

This year, students may be able to claim tax benefits, money that is returned to you for educational ex-penses paid out of your own pock-

et. This covers course both the term fees as well as course materials, such as books and other equipment necessary for your field of study.

Over the course of 2011, college students throughout the nation are going to be benefiting from $18.2 billion in tax credits, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Treasury. This number means that for the average 4 year college course, one third of term bill fees will be reimbursed. This is part of a larger scheme, to allow more families to send their kids to college and get a decent education, ulti-mately improving the future of the Ameri-can economy.

Rutgers University is required to in-form students of their tax benefit status via a form called the 1098-T Tuition Payments Statement. This form contains all of your information, from amount paid last semes-ter, how much was credited to financial aid and scholarships, and your status as a stu-dent.

Whereas in the past, this form was received through ‘snail mail’, it is now easy to view. Rutgers informs all students of their form’s arrival by email, and it can be viewed electronically via www.Get-MyDocument.com.

The process of getting money back has been made less troublesome for both busy students in search for extra funds, and for university administration.

“It’s fast and it’s convenient,” said Amal Chaudry, an Accounting major who attends the Newark campus of Rutgers University.

Most other students at R-N agree with this idea, and note that these tax ben-efits mean a lot of good things in the year to come.

“I guess this is good,” said Josh Alva-rez, a Criminal Justice major. “Especially since most students are broke!”

Harold Hull-Ambers, a Fine Arts ma-jor, is grateful that the government is giv-ing back to students. “I don’t mind paying taxes,” he says. “I have faith in the govern-ment to do what’s right, and I deserve tax breaks more than oil companies.”

However, note that if the student’s course fees are completely covered by fi-nancial aid, grants or scholarships, a tax return cannot be claimed.

The Observertherutgersobserver.com freePlease recycle after reading

apply now for may 2011 graduation! Deadline is february 9, 2011see www.rutgers-newark.rutgers.edu/dsanwk for more details

Citizens unhappy with current president

Has 2011 been the “Year of the Quarterback”?

p. 7

Living for 32: Virginia Tech survivor speaks at R-N

p. 2

Chic Stranger reports from Milan

p. 5

Demonstrations in Egypt break out to over-throw Mubarak.

p. 3

PAGE 2 News February 2, 2011

VA Tech survivor speaks out on lax gun lawsBy Euney Kim

Staff writer

Colin Goddard, a survivor who was shot four times during the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting, visited the Newark Campus of Rutgers Univer-

sity on Monday Jan. 31 to share his story and his thoughts on gun control with the campus community.

There was a screening of his documen-tary, Living for 32, in which Goddard shows how easy it is for anyone to purchase guns at gun shows across the United States with-out proper identification and without any background checks. Equipped with a hidden camera and some cash, Goddard exposes the gun show loop hole with his documentary.

The screening was held at the Paul Robeson Campus Center and it was filled with students and faculty. Although there were 55 people who made an RSVP, there were nearly 120 people in total at the event, according to Charnette Hockaday, Assistant Dean of the Office of Student Life and Lead-ership.

“There are different ways to measure success,” said Gerald Massenburg, Associate Chancellor for Student Life. “You can mea-sure by the turn-out, and then you can also measure it with the response at the end. This event was successful in both accounts.”

After the screening, there was a Q&A session in which students and faculty were able to raise any questions or comments to-wards Goddard relating to gun control.

Other than asking questions on gun policy, this session gave students an opportu-nity to speak out and share their personal ex-periences with gun violence. Students who experienced a gun-related incident shared their stories and then asked Goddard for ad-

vice on what would be the best way to deal with such a traumatic experience.

“Just by talking to other people who were there in the same building and experi-enced the same series of events but at very different angles and point of view, just hear-ing the different perspectives helped me,” Goddard said. At the end of the Q&A ses-sion, Goddard was open to students person-ally coming up to him to thank him and he welcomed students to contact him.

Dennis Henigan, Vice President of the Brady Campaign, an organization dedicated

to passing gun laws, commented on how the documentary “acquired even greater reso-nance” in light of the recent shooting in Tus-con, Arizona on Jan. 8. The Tucson shoot-ing, which targeted Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was left critically injured along with 13 others who were wounded, left a total of six people killed, including a nine-year-old girl.

“Here we are as a nation, reeling from yet another mass shooting,” said Henigan re-ferring to the Tucson shooting, “committed,

incidentally, with the same model of gun that was used in Virginia Tech.”

In the summer of 2009, Goddard, alongside the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, went undercover with a hid-den camera to capture the dangers and real-ity of the gun show loophole: where anyone is able to buy a gun at gun shows across the United States because private sellers are not required by law to conduct background checks before selling fire arms.

This was showcased in Living for 32, produced by Maria Cuomo Cole, and direct-ed by Kevin Breslin, which was featured at last week’s Sundance Film Festival.

New Jersey received a rating of 73 out of 100 possible points on the Brady State Scorecard, ranking NJ second in the nation for its strong gun laws.

However, this statistic does not make New Jersey safe because of the lax gun poli-cies in other states. In an interview on Jan. 11, Newark Mayor Cory Booker said, “In my four years in office, only one legally owned gun was involved in a shooting.”

Despite NJ’s strong gun policies, il-legal guns from other states still make their way up to NJ. This trafficking of guns from the south to the north is known as the “Iron Pipeline.”

Goddard, on behalf of the Brady Cam-paign, invites students to contact local offi-cials about the gun show loophole.

“It’s not a matter of ‘if,’ it’s a matter of ‘when.’ It’s until we actually do something to make it harder for just anyone to access these weapons,” said Goddard. “How can you ex-pect anything to become different in the fu-ture, if we don’t try to make improvements to make it less likely to happen again?”

If interested in learning more, you

can visit Livingfor32.com or follow them on Facebook and Twitter. The Brady Campaign has a Facebook as well.

Colin Goddard, survivor of Virgina Tech shooting.

College students not learning enoughNew book gives statistics on educational developments

By Joshua HoyosNews Editor

A recent survey, by two sociologists, claims that college students have not shown improvement in learning during the first two years of college.

Students at Rutgers-Newark have ex-pressed mixed reactions to the necessity of general education requirements.

Cherae Boyce, a freshman Psychology major, is very dissatisfied over the necessity to take two years of non-major related class-es.

“They are unnecessary, we have done everything in high school,” said Boyce.

The book entitled Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses cites data from student surveys and transcript anal-ysis to show that many college students have minimal class work expectations. Of 2,300 students of traditional college age enrolled

at a range of four-year colleges and universi-ties, the survey discovered that 45 percent of students did not demonstrate any significant improvement in learning during the first two years of college and 38 percent did not make significant improvements by the end of four years of education.

Yet senior, Asif Ibrar, an ac-counting major be-lieved that the first two years of college education are key to one’s academic suc-cess.

“The first two years help a lot because they provide the building blocks for major courses,” stated Ibrar.

Richard Arum, the New York Univer-sity professor who co-author the book with

Josipa Roksa of the University of Virginia, said in an interview with the Associated Press, “It’s not the case that giving out more credentials is going to make the U.S. more

economically com-petitive. It requires academic rigor ... You can’t just get it through osmosis at these institutions.”

Lindsay Mc-Cluskey, president of the United States Student Associa-tion, said the find-ings speak to a larg-er problem in U.S. higher education:

universities being run more like corporations than educational institutions, with students viewed as consumers who come for a degree and move on.

Boyce echoed this sentiment stating,

“They want our money and they want us to stay another two years.”

Brianna Alicchio, a freshman unde-cided major, believes that it depends on your major when it comes to the core classes you take and their relation to your major.

“The difference is if you know what you want to be,” said Allicchio, “I think if you have good skills, it would be a waste but if you don’t, you should take note.”

Sophomore, James Chambers, who is an undecided major, does believe he has learned something in his first years of higher education.

“I learned things,” said Chambers, “I don’t know what career I want so I don’t know what might be useful or not,” when speaking about his course selection.

Boyce still affirms that she should not be taking some classes that she currently is.

“I have learned a lot but at the end of the day, I am taking classes that have nothing to do with my major.”

EGYPTcontinued from Page 1

As an ally, the Obama administration, while not calling for Mubarak to step down, ap-pears set to continue pushing for additional concrete steps toward democracy.

President Obama issued a statement saying that he supports “an orderly tran-sition to a government that is responsive to the aspirations of the Egyptian peo-ple.”

After three decades of ruling, the citi-zens of Egypt demand for change, which they do not expect from Mubarak.

SPEECHcontinued from Page 1

Obama also plans on retaining inter-national students and making it easier for them to work and live in the US. “Today, there are hundreds of thousands of students excelling in our schools who are not Amer-ican citizens,” said Obama. “(They) come here from abroad to study in our colleges and universities. But as soon as they ob-tain advanced degrees, we send them back home to compete against us. It makes no sense.”

International student TJ Doshi, a graduate computer science major, agrees. “Making it easier to find work will make the lives of us international students so much easier.” But he also cautions, “The President will have to find a balance in-between finding jobs for citizens and for international students because if he fails to do so, unemployment rates will sky-rock-et.”

Obama’s education repertoire seemed to fall in favor of both Democrats and Re-publicans as it received unanimous ap-plause, proof that Obama’s call for biparti-sanship seems to be working (at least in the education sector).

“45 percent of students did not demonstrate

any significant improvement in

learning during the first two years of college.”

- Academically Adrift

State of the Union: America’s economic concernsOPINON:

By James RoundtreeStaff Writer

President Barack Obama addressed the American people at the State of the Union on Tuesday Jan. 25, and the over-arching theme of the

speech was “Winning the Future.” Obama professed his belief that American Ex-ceptionalism was in jeopardy because of increased competition manifested by the Globalization forces of the 21st century.

The President called on Americans to meet the nation’s challenges head-on, and embrace the inherent role the fed-eral government must play in that race. Obama strongly asserted his commitment to provide government funds to “invest” in business enterprise, which should facili-tate the creation of more “Googles,” and “Facebooks” to rehabilitate the American economy.

The President’s remarks were coun-tered by Republican congressman Paul Ry-an’s (R-WI) sobering argument that a more limited and efficient government would better enable America to retain its stature as the hegemonic superpower it has been since World War II.

Where Obama emphasized the need for the government to shepherd the Ameri-can economy out of the Great Recession, Congressman Ryan placed much of the blame for our current fiscal crisis on gov-ernment overreach.

Ryan stated “The facts are clear: Since taking office, President Obama has signed into law spending increases of nearly 25 percent for domestic government agencies — an 84 percent increase when you include the failed stimulus.

All of this new government spend-ing was sold as “investment.” Yet after two years, the unemployment rate remains

above nine percent and the government has added over $3 trillion to our debt.”

Ryan has been a vocal advocate of cutting America’s burgeoning debt, and first gained national prominence after the publishing of his “Fiscal Road-map,” which calls for drastic cuts to government programs such as Social Security, Medi-care/Medicaid, and the Obamacare legisla-tion which has recently reformed our na-tional health-care system.

The message from Congressman Ryan was clear: America is bordering on bankruptcy, and the only way to avoid fis-cal Armageddon is to institute the hard to swallow and unpopular policies such as raising the retirement age and scaling down the welfare system which many Americans have come to rely upon.

While Ryan’s rhetoric is often met by electoral outrage from the populace, the fact is that if we do not voluntarily make these changes to our economy they will be made for us when creditors such as China are no longer willing to finance our debt.

This conundrum will be exacerbated by the inability of the Federal Reserve to further flood the American market with printed money (which leads to domestic inflation), cheap credit, and nonexistent in-terest rates set under the leadership of Fed-eral Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan. Congressman Ryan was also critical of the 110th Congress lead by Speaker Nancy Pe-losi and its failure to produce a responsible budget to curb the government excess and waste that has only made the debt crisis worse.

“Last year — in an unprecedented failure — Congress chose not to pass, or even propose a budget. The spending spree continued unchecked. We [the Republican Party] owe you a better choice and a differ-ent vision. Our forthcoming budget is our obligation to you — to show you how we

intend to do things differently … how we will cut spending to get the debt down… help create jobs and prosperity … and re-form government programs.”

Critics charge Ryan as being a hypo-crite; he only recently become a believer in fiscal responsibility because of his role in supporting the Bush Tax Cuts of 2001 and 2003, which have contributed to the large percentages of debt accrued under the Bush Administration. While this critique has some validity it should not be used as a valid call to ignore the Congressman’s message of financial restraint.

The Democratic Congress under Nancy Pelosi gave President Obama a free hand over the American economy, and while the Obama Administration success-fully averted a wider economic depres-sion, the President has failed to reign in the runaway spending which has plagued the United States as of late.

Government spending or “invest-ment” as the President put it during the State of the Union address is out of con-trol, and will drive the American economy off the theoretical cliff. Paul Ryan and the GOP are not clear of blame, but their mes-sage of reform and fiscal maturity is a wel-comed change to the free-for-all that has dominated Washington DC.

Congressman Ryan evaluated our precarious economic state best when he said, “Our debt is out of control. What was a fiscal challenge is now a fiscal crisis. We cannot deny it; instead we must, as Ameri-cans, confront it responsibly. And that is exactly what Republicans pledge to do.”

Time will only tell if the GOP will follow through on their pledge, but an op-portunity to make good on this promise was seemingly earned by Paul Ryan, his Road map, and his coherent response to President Obama’s State of the Union ad-dress.

PAGE 3 Opinions February 2, 2010

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

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Letters to the editor and Opinions:

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

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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

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business managerOmar Khan

staff writersAlvin Anarah

Desiree HadleyEnzo DomingoFarbod Rajaei

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The goal of The Observer editorial pages is to present the diversity of views of all the R-N community, espe-cially the students whose student fees support this newspaper, on timely and relevant topics. Letters (50-100 words) and essays (600-800 words) are ac-cepted for publication at the discretion of the editor and/or his/her designees. Unsolicited manuscripts are not re-turned. Editors reserve the right to edit

for space and clarity.

By Sarah SalehContributor

Egypt is crying with blood in place of tears today because of 30 long years of oppres-

sion. Thirty years that my fam-ily has lived and experienced unfolding. Thirty years—of which I can only recall about twenty—that forced more peo-ple out of Egypt than any other time in its history.

The government has damaged the soul and mind of its people by terrorizing them, stealing the country’s natural resources, and hindering the country’s image and future generations.

The time has finally come where the people have awoken from a 30 year long coma, one that was depress-ing to see them in. They are determined, and motivated, to get rid of their president who claims integrity when really, he is built of nothing but dis-honesty, treachery, and disloy-alty to his people, country, and oath.

The story has been un-folding since Tuesday, January 25, when a group of civilized protesters stormed the streets of Cairo, Alexandria, and Suez, demanding their rights be met.

Their demands included that the constitution be re-vised, that minimum wage be increased, and that police bru-tality come to a halt.

It was one good, perhaps great day for Egyptians; only to be followed by many days of unfortunate events.

After Friday Prayer on January 28, thousands of col-lege students—including many of my cousins—, actors,

writers, reporters, journalists, and even children, broke out again in protest of President Hosni Mubarak’s government, firmly demanding reform. Peaceful protesters were soon faced with riot police that were unhappy to see them.

The riot police started at-tacking the protestors with wa-ter hoses, air-soft guns, batons, and tear inducing gas bombs to disperse the crowds. Feel-

ing betrayed by their fellow citizens, the Egyptian protes-tors became angrier at the situ-ation.

Also, the lack of gov-ernment response from any official, or from President Mubarak himself, put the pro-testors’ feelings on edge.

To make matters worse, the government also cut off all cell phone and internet con-nections in an attempt to cut off citizen to citizen commu-nication and Egyptians as a whole to the outside world.

The Egyptian streets quickly turned chaotic, and with a lack of organized com-munication through Facebook, twitter, and other communica-

tion devices, the demonstra-tions took a turn for the worse.

Lower class citizens, suf-fering from poverty, illiteracy, and occasional police bru-talities, attacked the streets in force.

Blending in with the civ-ilized protestors, to avoid un-wanted attention, they began harming everything in their way; their country, their pa-triotic identities, and most im-

portantly, yet unconsciously, themselves.

The crimes spread from local businesses, stores, and cars to hospitals, banks, and government buildings. They started fires that swept through the now fogged up streets that were turning pitch black in grief over the horrifying events.

They burnt down court-houses, hotels, and homeland security buildings throughout the country. The gangs spread to citizens’ villas, apartment buildings, shopping malls, and even museums. This chaos and utter absence of security, led to a 6PM national curfew for all citizens.

Outraged at the govern-ment for their dead silence, the curfew was not followed and people wandered the streets in protest all night long.

At about midnight Fri-day, President Hosni Mubarak finally came out on television to address the Egyptians. With an extremely brief and unsatis-fying speech, the president an-nounced his opposition to the country’s destruction and an-nounced his decision to make the government resign.

He ended his speech with the usual courtesies as if noth-ing had happened, assuring the people that he would stay on as president and protect Egypt as it is part of his sworn oath.

Mubarak’s empty load of words left the Egyptian audi-ence angry and fuming at the government as well as at him.

The following morn-ing, Saturday, January 29, the Egyptian army started patrol-ling the streets in search for the perpetrators, but with Egypt’s rigorously populated cities, it was a tough task to execute.

Meanwhile, President Mubarak announced the ap-pointment of the first vice president since 1981. Omar Suleiman, Egypt’s intelligence chief, would take the position. Suleiman is widely respected by the military and is cred-ited with crushing terrorists in Egypt in the 1990s.

An hour or so later, President Mubarak announced Ahmed Shafiq—the civil avia-tion minister and his fellow former air force officer—as Prime Minister.

The announcements did not do much for Egyptian citizens because their true de-mand now is for Hosni himself to flee!

Egypt: Crying out for freedom

Textbook prices: Why so high?

By Maya JohnsonContributor

The Office of Financial Aid, locat-ed on the third floor of Blumen-thal Hall, is a place where stu-dents turn when they need some

financial assistance for school. In my experience here at Rutgers-

Newark the financial aid office hasn’t been as helpful as they should be. I’m def-initely appreciative of the money they are able to provide me with, but feel as though it shouldn’t be such a hassle to obtain.

When you think of the word “coun-selor” you associate it with someone who wants to help you and that is what a finan-cial aid advisor’s job is.

However, here at Rutgers-Newark they don’t live up to that role. Imagine if we graded the office based on effort as teachers do us, what grade would they re-ceive?

“My experience with financial aid has been horrible, no one there wants to help you,” said junior Ashlee Coleman. “The people at the front desk do not care. As long as their financial needs are met they could care less about yours.”

Students are expected to give their best effort when taking a class, and faculty should be held up to the same standards.

“Overall, they are giving me money

and that’s a good thing, but the process is stressful,” said Junior Anthony Phillips.

He then told me a story about a transfer student, his roommate in Univer-sity Square, Alex Perez, who applied to the honors college here and was accepted. Perez was depending on the financial aid office to help him out with his tuition.

He asked the aid office a couple of weeks ago if he needed to turn in a cer-

tain form and they told him no. Now two weeks later, school has begun and they contacted him to tell him that he needed to turn in that form.

The form takes three weeks to pro-cess and now his tuition is late. The uni-versity is threatening to kick him out of housing. Now that’s definitely not an A for effort.

There is miscommunication between the faculties that needs to be sorted out or

retraining that needs to be done. The staff of the financial aid office is

impersonal. They don’t realize or care that they change student’s lives by giving them the chance to go to school.

Due to the snow day, my appoint-ment with financial aid was cancelled. Hopefully it can be rescheduled for next week.

“Their infamous line is you’re not going to be able to go to school this se-mester,” said junior Asha Herbert. “If they went a few steps further they could prob-ably help. There are like two people in the office that are willing to help.”

Imagine if you could do half the work and still receive a good grade, it doesn’t work that way. In my dealings I’ve realized that to get help you have to go higher up in the department.

Douglas Wilson, my counselor, and Mel Brown, the head of the financial aid department, have helped a lot in my quest for funds.

Most of the time, advisors in the front deny students when they ask to speak with them. During interviews, several students complained about how hard it is to talk to someone who really wants to help.

Counselors should be doing what-ever they can to help students, even if it means referring them to someone else who knows more.

By Zarna PatelStaff writer

For years the prices of textbooks have been the source of anger and irritation in col-lege students all over Rutgers Newark. How can we not be upset? The price of an aver-age textbook can be as high as $300. Depending on the num-ber of classes taken, the prices can easily add up to costing just as much as a summer or winter course.

To find out why textbook prices are so high, I talked to a representative at Pearson Edu-cation, one the main textbook publishers.

“Many factors affect a textbook’s price,” said Susan Aspey, Director of Communi-cations. “Between a textbook’s cover is years of research and contributions from dozens of

individuals. The development of a textbook and accompany-ing materials is the result of significant intellectual invest-ment from authors, experts, editors, researchers, reviewers and designers.”

So basically, students are paying for all that when they buy a textbook. Well, students should be getting all that when they drop $250 for textbook.

Then technically, ebooks should be worth the same if students are paying for the in-tellectual property, correct?

Apparently not. “And there are more lower-cost op-tions than ever before, like e-Texts that cost less than a physical text” said Aspey.

Clearly there is some-thing amiss here, but there was a miscommunication and I wasn’t able to get all my ques-tions answered. Although I do

have intentions of finding out exactly what’s going on.

According to Thomas Ebert, the Vice President of NJ Books, textbook prices have risen five to ten percent. Ebert also mentioned that if profes-sors ordered books earlier, NJ Books would pay half as much as the new price of the textbook because the textbook would be guaranteed to be bought the next semester.

Which would essentially be like renting a book for a pretty decent price, although, NJ Books will also be renting books in the fall.

But if a different book will be used in the fall, NJ Books will pay less then half for it. There’s nothing more depressing then buying a $250 book and finding out that you’ll only be getting back $50.

There is always a possi-

bility that eventually, students will be making about zero dol-lars if e-Textbooks take the place of regular textbooks.

I have yet to meet any-one that uses just e-books, but I have been in classes that required me to buy an access code that gives admission to online texts and homework.

So not only do we pay tu-ition and book prices, we also pay publishers for our home-work. Or at least that what it’s starting to seem right now.

“We have to pay $200 for each subject, it’s not fair” said sophomore DaEun Park.

There’s always the op-tion of buying books online, though shipping prices don’t allow much of a difference be-tween booksellers and buying online.

No hope for students lost in financial aid

Somali Net Forums

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PAGE 5Life & LeisureFebruary 2, 2011

By Kelvin PauSTAFF WRITER

So I looked outside on Wednesday and Thursday and found out that I was now trapped in an island of snow. Escape from any side proved most difficult, as

all routes were clogged with the white frost precipitate. Two hours of shoveling later, I realized that if I was indeed, in the dead of winter, I might as well pop in two albums related to the cold, wet, season. Those two albums were Emancipator’s Soon It Will Be Cold Enough and Agalloch’s Marrow of the Spirit. Two albums in completely different genres, years, and feel, but tied together by the theme of winter.

Starting with the harsher of the two, Agalloch’s album is an unrelenting sonic blizzard. Tracing their roots back to the harsh, bleak, and intensely quick and devastating genre of Black Metal, this album would seem very amelodic or one-note to the undiscerning ear. However, there’s a

subtle beauty underneath the chaos, soothing melodies underneath the aural assault and occasional eddies made of guitar riffs. Much like one can admire the force and passion of a natural disaster such as a snowstorm, so can one appreciate the harmony underlying Agalloch’s textured metallic tracks. Although Agalloch can be considered Black Metal, they incorporate elements from Post-Rock a genre which focuses on long buildups and non traditional musical arrangements, and Folk Metal, which focuses on nature, and instruments commonly used in traditional folk music. All this combines to create an effect which pulls the listener into a dense, snowy forest, in the middle of a hard blizzard in midwinter, watching as the frost covers the land in a beautiful cascade of white and you feel the rhythm of nature itself.

On the other hand, Emancipator represents the softer side of winter. His genre is trip-hop, which is best described as combining the bass and drum style of hip-hop with solemn, quiet instrumentals. The album is made up of dense, layered soundscapes

which make winter seem not like the snowy forests of Agalloch’s album but instead like a time to pull up visitors by the fireplace and knock back a few drinks of hot cocoa. Songs such as “Good Knight” pull the listener into a relaxed, chill world where snow means no school and no school means no homework. Emancipator also likes using samples to add a dash of color to his work. From the violins lifted from the main theme of “Requiem for a Dream” in the aforementioned “Good Knight” to the voices from an old, 1960s instructional video in the wistfully nostalgic piece “First Snow”, sounds from many different sources are refurbished for new uses in this great album.

Winter isn’t really popular this season. All this snow, doing nothing but burying cars, not actually closing school for the most part and forcing us to shovel through a billion metric tons of it off our driveways can kinda make you sick of this weather. But the albums Soon it Will be Cold Enough and Marrow of the Spirit, can make you reconnect with the good parts of winter.

‘No Strings Attached’: Rent it, but don’t pay much

By Steven AlbanoSTAFF WRITER

What do you get when you put a vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost into one television show? One would expect that throwing all of these characters together would result in a cliché program, but Syfy’s Being Human, based on the

BBC show of the same name, is anything but cliché or uninspired. It has a heart, a soul, and a voice.

Aidan (Sam Witwer) is a vampire fighting his addiction to human blood. Josh (Sam Huntington) is a werewolf failing to cope with his monthly lapse into animalistic instincts. Sally (Meaghan Rath) is a ghost longing for the life she no longer has. It is these combinations of heightened character traits that makes the show so wonderful; each character, however seemingly foreign, is entirely and scarily relatable. We all have struggled with a horrible habit or a consuming obsession. We all have an untamable monster living inside us that must be hidden from everyone else. We all have felt unseen and left out from the world around us. It is these things that makes us human, and is what makes Being Human such a great series.

It could easily just be a show about a vampire struggling with his evil cohorts and imposing maker, a werewolf finding a way to harmlessly transform into a monster once a month and saying a final goodbye to someone he loves, or a ghost trying to move on and trying to figure out how exactly she died. However, Being Human is so much more. The incredibly depth of the acting creates superhuman characters that are so relatable and understandable. You feel for Aiden when he slips up and genuine sympathize with him as he mourns over his mistakes. You get hurt as Josh pushes away those he loves in order to protect them. You experience such sadness as Sally shouts out her frustrations with never being able to accomplish anything else in her life.

The writing is philosophical and humorous all at the same time. It creates a deep background and history for the characters while keeping

their current situations fresh and interesting. It is never too heavy-handed or morbid but always honest and authentic. The dialogue never seems out of place and ebbs and flows comfortably through serious and comedic scenes. The scenery and cinematography keep up with the seriousness of the show and set and recreate the dark and somber mood of the series.

Being Human is not a show for someone that is interested in the mythologies surrounding vampires, werewolves, or ghosts. It is very focused on these three characters and the how they are coping with their entirely unique set of circumstances. As a whole, the series wants the viewer to reflect on their own life and how they are Aiden, Josh, or Sally. This show would not be successful if we could not relate to the characters.

Life &Leisure Inside this section:Reviews.....................................page 5Fashion......................................page 5 Creative Space ..............................page 6 Sudoku......................................page6

By Monica De Leon LAYOUT DESIGN EDITOR

If you like mainstream romantic comedies, this movie is for you. If you like raunchy, sex comedies, this movie is for you. Keep in mind, this movie is

a bit of both worlds, so if you have a dislike for either one of the two categories, you should probably save your money.

No Strings Attached, starring Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman, was released Jan. 21. Commercially, the film did well, but it still doesn’t sit quite right with me. It’s not a terrible film, but it isn’t that great either.

The trailers of the film promoted it to be a raunchy comedy—like many comedies released for older teens and young adults. “All your dating questions will be answered,” promises some of the commercials. If you’re into cliché films, maybe they will be. But if I had any questions to ask, they were not answered.

The movie attempted to follow in the footsteps of other movies that were successful in the same genre. But they tried too hard. The script has its hot and cold moments; some lines were awkwardly extreme. Hearing Kutcher’s character’s father say, “eat kitty” definitely made me cringe. There were other times when the script was incredibly bland, but the script did have its funny moments. Ludacris’ character was one of my favorites. Although his lines were limited, they had me laughing the most.

Portman’s character, Emma, in the movie is surprisingly flat. Portman is a wonderful actress, but many times it seems as if she isn’t even trying to act in the movie. Portman has her cute and quirky moments, but I wasn’t a fan of her acting this time around, particularly with her character development in the film. As for Kutcher I applaud his portayal of his character Adam, which he does pretty well surprisingly. I usually can’t take him seriously in most roles. You can feel when he’s hurt, when he’s angry, and its effortless how well you connect with him, despite how bizarre the situations get. (And believe me, it gets pretty bizarre.)

As much as I liked it at times, it still doesn’t settle right. I think the biggest downfall is that it doesn’t balance well between romance and raunchy. While Kutcher had me tearing at the end with a super duper love moment, the way it transitioned was so cliché it couldn’t feel genuine. Many people, however, could forgive this unsettling feeling, as the moment is a sweet one.

Overall, I don’t regret seeing the movie, but I wouldn’t pay to see it again nor anticipate its DVD release. It’s a movie that’s enjoyable to watch, but it’s fairly easy to forget.

Last note: Guys, shield your eyes when you see Kutcher naked early on. His butt is the only nudity present in the entire film.

‘Being Human’ shines as heartfelt scifi

Stave off cabin fever with wintery albums

Chic Stranger: For the love of FurBy Patricia Serrantonio

STAFF EDITOR

Ciao fellow students! I must say, that upon arriving in Rome, a city stunning and inundated with wild street fashion, I have noticed

something more popular than the food: fur accessories.

Everyone everywhere, mainly residents, are just doused in fur coats, vests, collars, wraps, and sleeves. Whether real or faux, women and even some men, are redefining fur, covering Roman streets with their minimalist and wild style.

This is undoubtedly the driving force to finding my own extravagant fur piece, preferably a hat!

As we all know, Milan is the fashion capital of Italy, but to my own surprise, downtown Rome (where I live) has its own eclectic style. Now, whilst fashion weeks all over the world ensue, all of Europe is intoxicated with couture and what designers are revealing.

Fur, involved in multiple major designer shows, has been utterly perfected by Oscar de la Renta for Spring 2011: one stunning cocktail look with a black sashed sleeveless top, and

an elegant snow white fur, knee-length skirt. I know, so much genius all in one piece.

Unlike the romance approach, Prada for Spring 2011 contributed to the fur extravaganza with striped and textured fur boas. In bright colors, like orange and green, the accessories were paired with strong black dresses with creative and varying necklines.

This proves that fur can truly be worn with anything throughout all seasons, which is exactly what I am predicting will happen, and if not, it should!

Not only do they vary in style, but color and pattern!

Last week, a fabulous woman was trotting along under her umbrella and was wearing a horizontally striped, deep-red fur coat; which is exactly a dominant color in the Cerruti 2011 spring line.

From leopard to polka dots, colors and patterns are vast and endless, making fur more fun and available.

As I see more and more Italian students sporting this style, I know that R-N students should start making their jeans and flats louder by adding fur accents. From gloves to purses, try Asos.com and Topshop for the ultimate faux fur piece, perfect for a little extra fun and flare.

MUSIC

By Luis MercadoSTAFF WRITER

Coming from a small town in New Jersey, David Rush has outlasted the odds to become a successful artist in a state that is often overlooked by

New York City. Rush has worked with some of pop music’s most popular artists including Pitbull, LMFAO, Frankie J, and even reggaeton group Black Point. As he looks to continue his career after a brief hiatus after receiving a kidney transplant, with the help of DJ Noodles he releases “Welcome to Rushia Volume 2,” the follow up to the first mixtape released last year.

While New Jersey is currently known best for its club music sound, Rush shows that true Hip Hop still does exist in this

state on this mixtape. He proves this on the second track titled “Rushia.” Produced by Soundz, I believe this song is easily one of the strong points on this mixtape with its true hip hop sound. Another high point is his track “Reborn”. “Reborn” takes a look into David Rush’s personal life as he raps about his feelings on getting a second chance at life.

Pointblank stands out as a producer with two stands out singles in “Longest Days,” and “On My Way.” “On My Way” has a 2003 hip hop feel, that will easily put your speakers to work. “Longest Days” stands out to me as a future single, as Rush raps in autotune about his chase with a girl who has left him.

The mixtape closes out with David Rush’s first official single titled “Party Like We Do.” Using the sample from DJ Kool’s

1996 single “Let Me Clear My Throat,” the high energy song is a certified hit that should be picked up and heard by the radio and DJ’s in the tri-state area.

Overall this project has a lot of high points, and is worth the listen. David Rush is one of those rare talents that is able to hop on a song whether club, or “true” hip-hop and still sound good over both genres. He is currently gaining buzz being featured on Frankie J’s single “Dream Girl” as well as Newark’s own Pure with “I Fell in Love” alongside DJ Frosty and Llore’l. David Rush is right in the middle of the New Jersey movement we are witnessing today, if you enjoy traditional Hip Hop then this artist and mixtape is perfect for you.

You could download Welcome to Rushia Vol. II at www.feeltherush.tv

David Rush shows off with new ‘Welcome to Rushia’

PAGE 6 Life & Leisure February 2, 2011

Rutgers Observer

Sudoku 16x16 - Puzzle 1 of 5 - Easy

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Want to see your writing in the next issue of the Observer? Email poems

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‘The Dilemma’:An Imperfect Drama-dyDeath of a Failed Man

Ryan VanceThis will be the death of me and everything I wasFor I will never live this down for anything because

The people who believed in me and all of what this doesI’ll never be enough for them or enough to be called one of men

And this will be the death of me because

This will be the death of meCause I’m tired of tryin to beEveryday something I’m notTryin to fit another’s thought

And this will be the death of meI’d bet my life on it

If I have to wake todayI won’t make it through this shit

So let this be the death of meThe death of every memory

Of every story of every chanceOf every single passing glance

Let it all fall down the wellJust let it all burn down to hell

Let this be the death of me and the start of something newCause even in death I’m just not good enough for you

This will be the death of meI’m losing my sanity

And all the things I thought I neededAlways made me feel defeated

And this will be the death of meAnd everyone I knew

Cause when I die no one will be missing meI know it’s true

So let this be the death of meThe death of every memory

Cause I don’t want to try to beSomething that I’m not

And if you let this die in meIf I don’t have to try to be

Anymore ever again, if I can just be all I’ve beenI’ll die content with what it meant

To almost be enough to be with you

By Shashwat Dave STAFF WRITER

Nobody questions the abilities of director Ron Howard. I mean the man has directed movies such as A Beautiful Bind, Frost/Nixon and

Apollo 13 under his belt along with a slew of Oscar awards. His movies make people think, question life, puts the viewer in a sort of, well, dilemma. Unfortunately, the only question The Dilemma raises is why did such a talented director waste his time on such a mundane movie?

Starring a promising ensemble cast of Vince Vaughn, Kevin James and Jennifer Connelly, The Dilemma revolves around the lives of two friends, Ronny Valentine (Vaughn) and Nick Brannen (James). Ronny and Nick are best friends and business partners and are struggling to run a failing automobile shop. Their fortunes change when the duo lands a contract with General Motors and are asked to work on a fuel efficient design of a Dodge Challenger. Their lives are dependent on this one contract as Ronny is all set to propose to his girlfriend Beth (Connelly) and Nick has been struggling financially.

Just when things were beginning to look good for the two friends, Ronny accidentally

learns that Nick’s wife is cheating on him. Ronny’s dilemma is to whether tell his best friend that his wife is cheating on him and risk distracting him and losing the GM contract; or to keep it all inside him until the GM contract is finished and risk losing his best friend’s trust. What follows is a predictable series of events and the clichéd “All’s well that end’s well” ending.

What works for the film is Vaughn’s and James’s comic prowess. Their on screen chemistry is praise worthy. There are scenes when the duo pack in a few good laughs. But what doesn’t work for the film is that it lacks consistency. The laughs come in scattered bunches. Howard tries to capture both the dramatic side and the humorous side of the apparent dilemma. He forces an all out comedy caper into a dra-medy (dramatic comedy). Normally, Howard is know for his intense dramatic scenes but lets face facts. For one, its difficult to picture Kevin James and Vince Vaughn in dramatic roles. And secondly, the film was marketed as a full fledged comedy. Audiences did not walk into the theater expecting to see the subtle nuances of the best-friends-forever routine. Jennifer Connelly is wasted and it seems as if she has been hired just to look beautiful.

On in all, The Dilemma is an average film that fails to generate many laughs.

Rutgers Observer

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Hard

february 2, 2011 Sports PAGE 7

Year of the Quarterback or just another year?An NFL analysis

By Camilo Brunand Yaroslav Imshenetsky

On December 14, 2010, ESPN has declared the year of 2011 as the “Year of the Quarterback.”

Sure, the NFL is currently filled with great passers.

This may be the most talented group of quaterbacks in years. The elites, Tom Brady, Drew Brees Peyton Manning, and Ben Roethlisberger, have demonstrated that their skills are not only limited to passing, but to leadership as well. The four aforementioned have a total of seven titles combined with Roethlisberger (2/2) and Brady (3/4) with multiple wins.

There is also a group of players right on the cusp of the elite status such as Jay Cutler, Joe Flacco, Philip Rivers, Aaron Rodgers, Tony Romo, Matt Ryan and maybe even Michael Vick.

The future of elite quarterbacks is in the developing talents of Sam Bradford, Josh Freeman, Mark Sanchez, Matthew Stafford and Tim Tebow.

But should 2011 really be dubbed “Year of the Quarterback”?

If you are of the train of thought that quarterback excuses may have ruined the

beautiful, “Year of the Quarterback” then you may be right.

Sanchez’s headset didn’t work. Cutler’s ACL is fine. Tony Romo can’t work with his supporting cast. Matthew Stafford can hardly stay healthy.

But the only way to truly know this is the quarterback’s year would be by

looking at the most important statistic that a QB has: the passer rating. The passer rating includes the amount of touchdowns and pass completions that quarterback has

made throughout the course of the season and compares them to his interceptions and incompletions.

To be considered, “elite” you have to have a rating over 100.

Adding up the numbers since 2001, you could hardly say 2011 was the, “Year of the Quarterback.”

The best year for the NFL’s most respected position was 2009. Nearly six quarterbacks were above the 100 mark, if you include Peyton Manning’s 99.9-passer rating. In fact, the average rating in 2009 for any top ten quarterback was 101.4.

After that the numbers are plain bland.

This year’s included.So what gives? How can ESPN simply assert that this

year- out of the last 10- has been better than the others?

Well if you’re looking at the numbers solely, you can see that of the top ten quarterbacks of the last ten years, all of them have played more than three seasons. So is its not the year of the quarterback- but the pillars of times.

If the NFL has a future in its quarterbacks, I would be time to look at its budding superstars. If you look at the

career ratings of top quarterbacks, who were starters in the NFL industry for no more than three years- the picture becomes clearer.

Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco, Mark Sanchez, Aaron Rodgers (who has played 5 years total, but only has three as a starter), Josh Freeman, Sam Bradford, Tim Tebow, Chad Henne, and Matthew Stafford.

Out of the bunch, right now I can only highlight Flacco, Rodgers, and Ryan. Have proven themselves as legitimate stars. Others have a long way to go to becoming elite quarterbacks in the future, and truthfully, most of them might never become them. Three rising stars among a group of veterans hardly signifies a stellar quarterback year.

Has 2011 been the “Year of the Quarterback”? The answer is unclear. This Superbowl however maybe some indication of where NFL quarterbacks are and where they are going. To watch a two time winner in Roethlisberger, play against the unproven talent of Rodgers may ultimately prove ESPN right. Until February 6th, we’ll still be in the dark. And a thesis unproven.

Reminiscences of a Cheesehead:Growing up far from the Pack

By Matthew RozsaStaff writer

PACKERS SUCK!”If you’ve seen me roaming

the campus during the past couple of months, you’ve probably no-

ticed that hostile declarations like this one tend to follow. Ever since the thermometer readings took a southward plunge, I have been donning my thick Green Bay Pack-ers winter coat. Naively, I thought I was only doing this to protect myself against the cruel winter elements. Little did I real-ize that I was tossing down the proverbial gauntlet in front of anyone who supported a different football team – or who, at the very least, had an unusually obnoxious sense of humor.

“GREEN BAY IS GOING DOWN!”Of course, it had been many years

since I had actually cared as passionately about football as my verbal assailants. That had been back in the ‘90s, when the econ-omy was prosperous and the Internet was a hot new thing and I was growing from a little boy of four to a young adult of four-

teen. It had started when my father, sug-gesting that my five-year-old counterpart to choose his own favorite football team, was surprised and amused to find that I had selected the Green Bay Packers using stan-dard juvenile logic: As my favorite color was green, no team could be a better fit for me than one that had green in its uniform AND in its name.

I didn’t care that the Packers were still mired in a slump that had lasted since the end of the ‘60s, since as far as my youth-ful mind was concerned, no quarterback in the league was better than Don Majkowski and no wide receiver more talented than the inimitable Sterling Sharpe.

But I had changed quite a bit since then. As the ‘90s turned into the ‘00s, I became a high school student, then a col-lege student, and finally a graduate student, while my interests shifted from silly games like football to more serious fare like poli-tics and social justice…

“F&*! THE PACKERS!”… and so I ignored the taunts from

strangers, at least at first. Then the Green Bay Packers tri-

umphed over the Chicago Bears in the

NFC Conference Championship, and as it dawned on me that my team had just earned itself a Super Bowl berth for the first time in fourteen years, a funny thing happened in the corridors of my spirits.

Instead of cynicism, I began to feel a strange joy. My mind wandered back to being the child who, when experiencing his bi-monthly neurological “episodes” in the terrifying corridors of a mammoth New York City hospital, could only be com-forted by his mother repeating “Green Bay Packers #1” while a doctor plunged an IV needle into his veins. I remembered how much I had hated the Dallas Cowboys for constantly beating my team and thus stop-ping them on their road to glory, or how much I adored Mike Holmgren, Brett Fa-vre, and Reggie White for turning my team into one of the NFL’s powerhouses.

I recalled the unparalleled triumph and exuberance that came when the Pack-ers won their first Super Bowl in three de-cades on January 26, 1997 (the exact date will always stick out in my mind), as well as the devastating disappointment that fol-lowed when we were defeated in the next year’s Super Bowl by the Denver Broncos

(that date has been blotted from my mem-ory).

Instead of the urbane adult who re-mains cool to the passions felt by profes-sionals sports fans, I discovered that the heart of Matt Rozsa circa 2011 was welling up with a remarkable jubilation, an inexpli-cable urge to celebrate, one that reminded him of a time when he had been younger, less worldly, less sophisticated… and, per-haps, a whole lot wiser.

In short, I was reminded of a quote from film critic Roger Ebert: “There is a little immaturity stuck away in the crannies of even the most judicious of us, and we should treasure it.”

That is why, as I gird my head with a block of cheese and prepare for the im-pending battle, I realize that there is only one appropriate response to the insults that greet me and my proudly worn Packers jacket:

“PITTSBURGH IS GOING TO WIN!”

“GREEN BAY PACKERS #1, A*@HOLE!”

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PAGE 8 Sports February 2, 2011

Superbowl Preview:Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers take on Big

Ben’s SteelersBy Shashwat Dave

Staff Writer

The red hot Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers are all set to face Big Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers the

Cowboys’ Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Sunday February 6th 2011, in what promises to be an exciting Super Bowl XLV.

At first glance, this year’s Super Bowl seems like the often cliched David vs Goliath matchup. On one hand you have the 6th seeded, wild card entry Green Bay Packers; a team with a relatively inexperienced quarterback; a team whose last division title was in 2007 during the Brett Favre era. And on the other hand, you have the Pittsburgh Steelers, one Super Bowl, two conference championships and two division titles in the same time span. Too bad for Big Ben’s crew that Rodger’s team isn’t playing like an underdog.

After a rocky finish to the regular season, Green Bay barely made the playoffs as the NFC’s 6th and final seed. Their road

to the Super Bowl began with a hard fought 21-16 victory over Michael Vick and the Philadelphia Eagles.

Green Bay never trailed in the game and Rodger’s had a big night with 3 touch downs. Rodgers and the Packers

then crushed Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons 48-21 and Rodgers finished with an impressive 31/36 pass completion rate.

The Packers made their final stop at Chicago with a decisive 21-14 victory over

the Bears. On the other end of the spectrum,

the Pittsburgh Steelers had a relatively easy time getting to the Super Bowl. Finishing the season with a 12-4 record and as the NFC’s 2nd seed, the Steelers were automatically qualified for the second round of the playoffs, where they were set to face arch rivals Baltimore Ravens. It ended up being a close matchup, but Roethelisberger’s 58-yard pass, lead to a 2-yard rushing touchdown by running back Rashard Mendenhall’s and a 31-24 Steelers victory.

The Steelers then defeated the Jets 24-19 before advancing to the Super Bowl.

The last time the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers had met, it had been a real nail-biter. The two teams had flip-flopped leads and the game had ultimately ended with a final minute touchdown pass by Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers had defeated Green Bay 37-36. Analysts and sports fan alike expect the Super Bowl XLV outcome to go down to the wire.

Raider Roundball Roundup

Raider Notes

Rutgers-Newark hosts New Jersey City on Wednesday in The Golden Dome on “An Evening For Eric” with all proceeds from the NJAC twinbill going to the Eric LeGrand Believe Fund. The women tip off at 6 p.m. with the men to follow at 8 o’clock.

Sophomore Kevon Brown has added his third New Jersey Athletic Conference Men’s Indoor Track Athlete of the Week award in six weeks following his performance in

the Thomson Invitational at the University of Delaware.Against a field of 17 runners which included NCAA Division I and II athletes,

Brown won the 60-meter hurdles in 8.33 seconds. He also finished eighth in a field of 38 competitors in the 60-meter dash.

Brown, who is featured in the latest edition of the Rutgers.Magazine, joins seniors Kyle Gilroy of The College of New Jersey and William Brown of Montclair State as hurdlers who have swept all six male track athlete of the week awards for the conference this season. Gilroy has two nods with Brown getting the other weekly laurel last week.

Lady Raider

Rutgers-Newark senior forward Jaleesa Coleman posted a double-double with 21 points and 14 rebounds, as Rowan

beat the Lady Raiders 74-53.Coleman, who also added three

steals, hit four of nine 3-point jumpers, but the Raiders (14-6, NJAC 4-5) knocked down just six of 29 from beyond the arc to finish with an overall field goal percentage of 31.3. The Profs (11-7, NJAC 6-2) shot 51.8 per cent from the field.

Freshman Courtney Woodard came off the bench for eight points, two steals and two assists by Coleman was the only double-digit scorer as Rutgers-Newark lost its fourth straight league game.

Junior guard Brittany Smith totaled five rebounds and five assists for the Raiders.

Raider Men

Junior guard Pedro Burgos poured in a career-high 37 points, hitting nine of 13 3-point shots, as Rutgers-Newark took an 85-74 New Jersey Athletic

Conference road win at Rowan University.The Scarlet Raiders also got 13 points,

a game-high seven assists and six rebounds from sophomore point guard Al’Don Muhammad to snap a two-game skid in the conference while the win over Rown gave Rutgers-Newark a 4-1 record for the season against South Division competition in the 10-team league.

Burgos added a team-high eight rebounds as the Raiders edged Rowan on the glass, 39-34. Sophomore center Hussein Abdelmaksoud came off the bench for 10 points, seven rebounds and a blocked shot while junior forward Jeremiah Rivers notched seven points and five rebounds. Junior guard Chris Diaz dropped in two of three shots from beyond the arc while junior guard Greg Moore chipped in four rebounds, three assists and a trey.