Rutgers 
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Wed Nov 09, 2011 at 08:09:44 PM EST
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Every year, while the headrush is still fresh, the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers hosts a gathering to pick apart election results and find meaning in it all. They call it The Morning After - NJ Legislative Elections: Results and Implications. You could probably fill an auditorium with still charged-up D's and R's, but Eagleton convenes this discussion in a beautiful room that only seats about 70 people. That makes it more discussion than presentation. And that makes it fun.
This morning's players were AP's Angela Delli Santi, Assemblywoman Joan Quigley, Record columnist Charlie Stile and former NJ GOP chair (now lobbyist) Tom Wilson. Eagleton's John Weingart moderated.
The audience was mostly players of various kinds; some of the best questions and observations came from Eagleton students. Everything was on the table. Below the fold, some vignettes, including Chris Christie's post-election black eye, leadership tension between Barbara Buono and Loretta Weinberg, who wears a suit and tie and why it matters, and why Dick Codey's having a really good day today:
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Tue Nov 08, 2011 at 05:50:43 AM EST
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Today’s the Day! 
Shuffling the Deck Chairs Other Political News Christie is Consistent in his Inconsistency Victory in the Battle of Trenton Education The Next Election I Miss NJN New Jersey Parks New Jersey Roads Is Scarlet Fever the Cure for Penn State’s Offense? The Chutzpah Award goes to…
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Wed Nov 02, 2011 at 02:47:00 PM EDT
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If you or one of your children are going to college, you know how much the cost of a college degree has increased over the decades. Students and their families are forced to go into significant debt even as the job market for college graduates shrinks. Students from lower income families are especially disadvantaged because loans are harder to come by. Unless the student is fortunate to have garnered a full scholarship, you are also paying a hidden tax – the cost of college athletics. It’s time to change the tuition funding playbook. (there's more) 
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Tue Nov 01, 2011 at 05:00:00 PM EDT
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Well, we knew that Chris Christie is not a fan or public education. His efforts to dismantle the local school districts in favor of corporate run, unaccountable educational facilities funded by taxes is well know. But this is pathetic.
Gov. Chris Christie has told Rutgers University officials he's ready to help the athletic department respond to the string of defections that have weakened the prestige of Big East Conference and threatened the future of the state university's $58 million sports program.
Look, I'm a huge fan of Rutgers football and cheer when our basketball teams do well. But there are thousands of New Jersey's finest minds who are unable to attend Rutgers because we keep cutting the funding for the school and raising tuition.
But instead of the Governor stepping in and saying, "We need to ensure our state university is affordable for every qualified student," he steps in to help deal with the Big East defections.
The Governor has no sense of proportion, value or importance. Instead it's good if he likes or benefits from it, bad if he doesn't.
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Mon Oct 24, 2011 at 11:16:09 AM EDT
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Last week, I criticized impatient calls for firing homophobic high school teacher Viki Knox as disregarding free speech rights of teachers. Today, I will explain why this approach is a strategical mistake.
Last fall, Rutgers University Freshman Tyler Clementi jumped to his death from the George Washington bridge after his roommate, Dharun Ravi, secretly filmed Clementi having a intimate encounter with another man. Just like it's doing with Mrs. Knox now, Garden State Equality demanded that Ravi and his friend, Molly Wei, who also viewed the video, be punsihed to the fullest extent of the law. GSE did not escape criticism for its statements; a group of Rutgers students and faculty condemned what it saw as calls for vengeance. Instead, they argued, the Clementi tragedy highlighted the need for broader conversation addressing unacknowledged prejudices in the Rutgers community and in society at large. Instead of joining calls for Ravi and Wei's punishment, they demanded policy changes at the university, including the establishment of gender-neutral housing, to create a more positive atmosphere for LGBT students. At the time, GSE dismissed them as "radical fringe group." But last March, Rutgers announced that it would allow gender-neutral housing.
But to compare Garden State Equality's response to Knox incident with its response to the Clementi tragedy is unfair. GSE's statements about Ravi and Wei were infrequent and often responsive to media inquiries. Instead of organizing protests to call for the heads of the guilty, they organized town hall meetings to remember Tyler Clementi and to discuss issues of anti-gay bullying in particular and bullying in general. Instead of focusing on what the perpetrators did in the past, they focused on what should be done to prevent similar tragedies in the future. Thanks in large part to GSE's efforts, New Jersey now has one of the strongest anti-bulling laws in the country. With Knox, on the other hand, the public message has focused solely on punishing the accused.
Garden State Equality has two options in crafting its public message in response to the Viki Knox facebook posts. One approach, the one GSE has taken so far, is to seek retribution against the teacher for expressing her ignorant views. This approach is short-sighted. The better approach is the one they employed in response to the Tyler Clementi tragedy: to use the incident to highlight the importance of school policies that support and affirm LGBT students across the state. This message is superior because it is relevant to all schools, rather than just this school; because it focuses on LGBT students, rather than homophobic teachers; because it avoids needless First Amendment costs; and because it unites, rather than divides, supporters of gay rights.
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Thu Sep 22, 2011 at 04:17:46 PM EDT
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Today's first public hearing of the New Jersey Congressional Redistricting Commission was a disappointment. Similar meeting for the legislative districts were held earlier this year and spanned several hours with testimony from dozens of advocacy groups. By contrast, today's hearing was concluded in 45 minutes, including the introductory remarks.
Held in a mostly-empty auditorium on the Rutgers-Camden campus, the hearings were chaired by Rutgers-Newark Law School Dean and former State Attorney General John Farmer, Jr . On the stage, Farmer was flanked by the six Democratic and six Republican members of the Commission.
The half dozen witnesses were comprised of politicians, gadflies, and a solitary union leader. There were no representatives from the minority communities or even the ubiquitous Tea Party.
Perhaps the reason for the lack of public input was the fact that the venue was not formally announced until after Blue Jersey poked the Commission on Tuesday of this week, and the meeting was held during working hours.
While the rules for Congressional redistricting are generally stricter than those for the legislature, keep in mind that the work that this Commission does will determine district boundaries for the next five Congressional election cycles. And while redistricting probably won't correct the gender imbalance in our Congressional delegation, the lines that are drawn will have a big impact on minority representation.
Let's hope for a better turnout at the October 11 sessions in Newark and New Brunswick. The commission's web site is njredistrictingcommission.org.
Dean Farmer spoke with Blue Jersey after the session. His comments are below the fold.
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Wed Jul 27, 2011 at 08:20:42 PM EDT
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All along it was presumed that the William Palatucci company Education Health Centers of America would attain the RFP to privatize in prison inmate education. It has now been discovered that New Jersey's own State University is in the privatization business!
Led by Ned Lipman and Ken Karamicheal, the Office of Continuing Professional Education is currently negotiating RFP 12-X-22048 which would privatize inmate education beginning in September.
The irony is that CWA represents employees at both Rutgers and in Corrections.
Is Rutgers now in the anti-union privatization business?
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Wed Apr 27, 2011 at 04:41:12 PM EDT
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Several dozen students are in Hour 6 of an occupation of the office of Rutgers President Richard McCormick, with students in support of them rallying outside the Old Queens building. The issues, as outlined in a press release to media and presented to the university are:
 Pillows & laptops: Click to enlarge
freeze tuition fees
eliminate, for the first 10 transcripts, the school's $7 charge for transcripts
voting seats on the Board of Governors for students (3), faculty and staff (1 each)
disaffiliation from the "corporate-controlled Fair Labor Assn"
1-year tuition freeze in light of tuition doubling over the last 10 years.
fair & speedy arbitration for Rutgers' workers re: the two-year salary freeze affecting them.
They're settled in. The shoes are off, the pillows are out and the laptops are open. And they're taking their inspiration, says Molly Magier of Rutgers United Students Against Sweatshops, from USAS members at the University of Wisconsin, who occupied their administrative building to also protest the privatization of their University and skyrocketing tuition just yesterday. The U of W is in Madison, site of the massive community response to Gov. Scott Walker's efforts to end collective bargaining in that state.
A facebook page - Save Public Education - Rutgers - carries a letter to the university president.
The university's statement says McCormick Friday and he's hip to their demands (okay, so that's the gist).
The students in the administrative offices have been told they need to vacate by 5pm, some 20 minutes from now. You can follow along via their Twitter feed @RutgersStudent
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Thu Apr 21, 2011 at 06:12:21 PM EDT
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When the New Jersey State Department of Education was competing for $400 million in federal funds last Spring, then-Education Commissioner Brett Schundler reached an agreement with the teachers’ union on an approach to utilize the money. This didn’t sit well with Governor Christie, who abhors workers, especially those in unions. Consequently, Schundler was fired for having the temerity to negotiate with the union, Christie’s minions modified the grant application at the last minute, and New Jersey lost out on the federal funds.
This action apparently did not go unnoticed by Department of Transportation Commissioner James Simpson. At a hearing of the Assembly State Governance Committee today, it became apparent that Simpson got the message and in the last several months his office went from cooperation to obstruction in dealing with the toll collectors on the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway.
While the hearings, which were held in a packed meeting room, were ostensibly billed as a discussion of the privatization of toll collection services, it became quickly apparent that this initiative is another move by the Christie administration to punish union workers.
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Wed Apr 20, 2011 at 01:29:05 PM EDT
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Tyler Clementi's roommate, who secretly videoed him in a sexual encounter days before he leapt to his death off the George Washington Bridge was indicted today on 15 counts, including invasion of privacy, bias intimidation and tampering with evidence by a grand jury in Middlesex County. Yes, prosecutors say Dharun Ravi not only spied on Clementi's most private moments, but he then tried to cover up what he did, by destroying evidence, and sending false tweets in an effort to throw police off his trail, according to the indictment released today.
Garden State Equality's Steven Goldstein had this to say:
To those who say that Mr. Ravi's conduct was merely a prank that students are apt to pull - and that somehow he should not receive a tough sentence - we say that's nonsense. That heinous philosophy has tragically done so much
to create a bullying epidemic in our state and nation in the first place.
Ravi and Molly Wei, who allegedly participated in the scheme to spy on Clementi are accused of secretly observing Clementi and a partner in the dorm room he shared with Ravi, and streaming it as it was happening via internet. Both Ravi and Wei have withdrawn from Rutgers, which means there cannot be a university disciplinary hearing on their actions. The grand jury has not seen evidence against Wei yet; she may later face charges of her own.
Clementi's parents intend to sue Rutgers University.
Clementi's death rocked New Jersey. As awful, and as sad and frustrating it was, it was only one of a chain of torments young people, particularly gay young people, have had at the hands of others. New Jersey's loss of student and musician Tyler, just 18, helped propel the NJ Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights and federally, the anti-bullying Tyler Clementi Act, which it must be said, some right-wing media describe as a "serious threat to free speech".
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Wed Apr 13, 2011 at 04:00:00 PM EDT
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When asked to compare the state of broadcast journalism today with that of decades ago, television commentator Rachel Maddow remarked that there are no Walter Cronkites today, and she did not expect one to arise in the foreseeable future.
Cronkite established his reputation as "the most trusted man in America." He was a conventional hard news reporter and Maddow is an opinionated commentator. Yet despite these differences, one could legitimately argue that Maddow is filling Cronkite's shoes. When fact-based broadcast news is a rare commodity, Maddow's nightly program on MSNBC is one of the few that I trust.
more after the fold...
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Thu Mar 31, 2011 at 11:25:00 AM EDT
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 If you're a regular reader of this blog, you are more likely than most to accept the fact that there are changes in the earth's environment that are a result of human action, and that most of these changes are detrimental to our quality of life and that of future generations. The scientists call this anthropogenic climate change. Similarly, you are probably frustrated with the influence that the corporate-funded denial industry has on the debate - especially when the facts are so clear that the need for a "debate" on this topic seems silly.
Yet, a large segment of the public is either skeptical about climate change or actively denies that it exists. To address this issue, a group of scientists and journalists convened today at Rutgers University at a seminar entitled, "Communicating About Climate Change - Research and Practice."
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Fri Feb 18, 2011 at 03:53:34 PM EST
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If you’re reading this, you are probably more involved with, and informed about, the political system in New Jersey than most citizens. You’re aware that despite being sandwiched between the New York and Philadelphia news behemoths, there are many outlets to provide you with news on the state level. But what about news that most affects your pocketbook and your daily life - news about your local community?Local news has suffered with the cutbacks in dead-tree newspapers. If you’re fortunate, your community is covered by a hyperlocal site from patch.com or some other local citizen-journalist enterprise. Hyperlocal news sites are cropping up across the state and nation. But how do these citizen-journalists, some who put in 12 to 15 hour days, do their job effectively?The New Jersey Hyperlocal News Association’s (NJHNA) mission is to provide training and resources for those journalists to enable them to report thoroughly and accurately. The group held its second general session today on the Rutgers New Brunswick campus. The topic was reporting on the activities of local school boards. After introductory remarks from Heather Taylor of NJHNA and Dr. John Pavlik, head of the Rutgers journalism department, the keynote address was delivered by Gene Maeroff, President of the Edison school board and a noted education writer. He described the school board budgeting process and offered some tips for those reporting on school board activities. (The entire session was videotaped and will be posted on the NJHNA web site.) Following the keynote, a panel discussion was held, with Jonathan Busch, an attorney who represents boards of education; Dr. Valerie Goger, superintendent of schools for Bernards Township; and John Mooney, founder and education writer for NJ Spotlight. All discussed the budgeting and election process from the perspective of their individual involvement.Among the things the audience learned were the timeline for the budgeting and election process, how board of education members must not electioneer for or against the budget, and the impact of the governor’s tax caps and cuts on the education process. There were discussions on the best ways for local reporters to ferret out facts that might not always be easy to obtain.NJHNA’s next session, scheduled to occur in about two months, will discuss how to cover municipal meeting and elections.
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Wed Feb 16, 2011 at 01:43:58 PM EST
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The multi-partisan Women's Political Caucus of NJ has a free event coming up designed to prep people considering running for their own local school boards, with a panel of politicians whose point of entry into politics was their own local school board, Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver, Asw Mila Jasey & Bonnie Olt of the Evesham Twp School Board.
Why Not Me? Why Not Now? Running for School board - Tuesday, March 1, Eagleton Institute of Politics, New Brunswick.
I do a news roundup every morning for Blue Jersey. We didn't used to have a heading for school issues. We do now. Everything in how we teach New Jersey kids is either under direct attack via Governor Christie, or in flux, with the undermining of public education itself, and budget slashes as two key reasons.
When we write our property tax checks - NJ average is $7,555 - the biggest chunk goes to schools. And yet, school elections are usually sleepy little affairs. Last year's were the exception; voters snapped to attention when Christie publicly urged voters to defeat local budgets if local teachers didn't agree to 1-year wage freezes. This was a month after Christie slashed state aid $820 million. And right before Christie bungled a $400 million federal grant that would have gone to Jersey schools if Christie didn't intentionally bungle it to avoid the appearance of working alongside NJ teachers toward a common goal. Right this minute, Gov. Christie is in Washington, about to go on stage for a major speech to American Enterprise Institute - standing room only right now - and his topic is how he took down NJ teachers and plans to remake NJ education.
We are all stakeholders in our public schools. Too few of us are actively engaged in decision-making for them. The March 1 event is free. Maybe you should be running for school board. Voter turnout is - unfortunately - so low that you might be surprised at your own electability if you get supporters' elbows around you.
Free info event is Tuesday night, March 1. Date to file as a candidate is March 8. Elections are April 27.
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Fri Feb 11, 2011 at 04:01:09 PM EST
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How often do you get to meet a person who was one of TIME Magazine’s 100 most influential people and who was directly responsible for an organization’s winning of the Nobel Prize? If you were on the Cook Campus of Rutgers University in New Brunswick last night, chances were pretty good.Susan Solomon is a scientist for the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and spoke to a room full of scientists, students, faculty, and the general public about global climate change.Like most scientists (as opposed to some activists), Solomon is not an alarmist, but nevertheless presented quite a bit of scientific information, boiled down to a level understandable by a layman, that makes some predictions that need to be taken seriously by our elected officials. Her PowerPoint punctuated presentation, entitled “A World of Change: Climate Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow”, was full of charts summarizing years (and in some cases centuries) worth of scientific measurements from all over the world. Her remarks were long on data and short on opinion or advocacy.Solomon presented evidence compiled by multiple scientific groups from around the world that the world’s oceans are warming - approximately 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit over the last century. There was actually a dip in global temperatures in the ‘60s and ‘70s due to widespread global pollution partially blocking natural sunlight from the earth’s surface. But as we made our air healthier to breathe, this temporary cooling effect went away. This phenomenon is similar to dips in the planet’s temperature when there are major volcanic eruptions and ash is spewed into the atmosphere. Despite these ephemeral variations, the overall long-term trend is unambiguously increased temperatures.She also presented evidence of glacial melting over the last century and described her scientific adventures in Antarctica where she and colleagues investigated historical evidence of CO2 in the ice caps. Atmospheric CO2 is a major factor in increasing global temperatures and the concentration of that gas in the atmosphere is higher than it has been in the last half-million years.So the big question is whether or not the recent warming trends are man-made or are just part of the normal cycle of variations in the dynamics of the earth’s climate. Solomon points out that the scientific evidence shows that most global warming over the past 50 years is man-made. And while the bulk of the CO2 comes from the developed nations that burn fossil fuel, as other nations improve their economies, more and more people will be contributing to this world-wide problem. (The United States is the third worst in this area, sending twenty tons of CO2 per capita into the atmosphere, about twice the rate of Europe.)She noted that the noticeable impact of higher concentrations of CO2 will be wider variations in rainfall (and snowfall), and while some people may contend we are experiencing that now, the effects will be much more pronounced by the end of this century. Some regions of the earth will face severe drought while others will experience flooding. But there are other impacts as well. For example, for every degree of global warming, America’s ability to grow corn is reduced by 10%.Solomon was also involved with studies of the impact of the depletion of the ozone layer. She feels this is an example of where nations can come together in their common interest. The Montreal protocol, which came into effect in 1989, phased out the emission of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) into the atmosphere, and significantly alleviated the problems they were causing. But, as Solomon pointed out, this was easy to do, citing the switch from spray to roller deodorants as a prime example. The problem with CO2 is much more difficult due to our dependence on fossil fuels in our lives and economies.This world-renowned scientist pointed out that New Jersey’s Rutgers University is playing a key role in the never-ending quest for knowledge and solutions to this world-wide problem. Her presentation was based on scientific evidence, and where there was no conclusive evidence, she said so. And although she was careful to let the audience know that she was not advocating any particular choice, she said “there is a climate middle ground” and changes to reduce CO2 need to be made. It’s not too late to take action. The question is, do we have the will to heed the wisdom of Solomon?
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Mon Jan 31, 2011 at 10:50:44 AM EST
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Yeah, I love this.
The three eldest members of Congress - senators Frank Lautenberg (at 87, Congress' oldest) and senators Daniel Inouye & Daniel Akaka of Hawaii - Democrats all, are also its only remaining World War II veterans. Lautenberg served in the Army Signal Corps in the European theater.
Today, in just a few minutes, Lautenberg will be at the Rutgers Student Center kicking off a collaboration with the Library of Congress Veterans History Project. There will be a training to teach New Jerseyans how they can participate in this oral history project of American vets. And then, Lautenberg's office and the Rutgers Oral History Project will be recording the war stories of 5 New Jerseyans:
Arthur Seltzer (Cherry Hill), a WWII veteran who survived D-Day
Tom Mahoney (Union Township), WWII vet who survived Pearl Harbor
Danielle Peloquin (South Brunswick), Vietnam veteran
Joe Nyzio (Bordentown), veteran of Iraq
Justin Sasso (Holmdel), veteran of Iraq.
This is at 11am in the Rutgers Student Center Multi-Purpose Room, 126 College Ave. in New Brunswick (Google map). Also attending are Rutgers President Richard McCormick and other university officials, NJ Deputy Commissioner of Veterans Affairs Ray Zawacki and reps from several veterans organizations. I don't see Veterans for Peace among them; some of the most interesting stories I've heard are from veterans actively engaged in peace work.
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Sat Jan 29, 2011 at 05:45:06 PM EST
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The United States Constitution is pretty succinct on the requirements for a decennial census:The actual enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. (Article 1, Section 2) This sounds simple in theory, but in practice, this clause requires each state to go through what has turned out to be an often contentious, politically-driven kabuki dance. The “gerrymandering” that we learned about in middle school has been supplanted by “packing” and “cracking” of electoral districts as the maps are drawn. (These terms are explained below.) |
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Wed Jan 26, 2011 at 12:01:00 PM EST
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 Mention Camden and what comes to mind? People immediately think of a crime-ridden city in dire poverty with no hope of rebounding.
The city is at a crossroads. Camden has had to lay off nearly half its cops, a third of its firefighters and scores of other workers. Once a mecca for high-tech jobs in South Jersey, Camden has been impacted by crime, the Bush recession, and a shrinking tax base. Forty percent of Camden residents eke out their existence from below the poverty line, and homicides and other serious crimes are rampant. Those residents who are lucky enough to be employed are hit by Governor Christie's cutbacks in public transportation, education, and other areas. The library system is closing.
After seven years of state control, $175 million of special state aid, and one year after home rule has been returned to the city, there's a lot of hand-wringing and finger-pointing in the local and national press on this issue. Mayor Dana Redd is playing a game of chicken with the unions, and the unions are reluctant to work out a compromise set of concessions.
So given this scenario, what is the future of Camden? Certainly, there are challenges - but these challenges are being met head on by businesses, residents, and community organizations.
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Tue Dec 07, 2010 at 09:42:08 AM EST
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Last month, Gov. Christie said he thought "more science" was needed to convince him personally that the global warming effect is human-caused. Ignoring, or not being conscious of, real science in favor of 'science' directed by those who stand to gain maintaining the status quo, is a common refrain from the right. We've heard it before in NJ. Rush Holt, physicist and congressman, made an effort to address the Governor's concerns here at Blue Jersey.
Now there's another effort to offer some free tutoring on climate change to our Governor, hosted by a coalition of seven NJ environmental groups. Christie has been invited to attend, but you can go, too. It's open to the public. Given the Gov's busy schedule, the location couldn't be more convenient; it doesn't even require a commute (no fossil fuels burned). It's at the State House Annex. He's also been offered a private briefing at his scheduling convenience by the scientists involved.
Available to the Governor, and speaking at the State House program are Dena Mottola Jaborska (ED, Environment NJ and three well-known experts from Rutgers; Prof. Alan Robock (Dept. of Environmental Sciences) Prof. Paul Falkowski (Institute of Marine Sciences) and Dr. Jim Miller (Dept. of Coastal Sciences). The scientists will present a clear picture of the problem and discuss how climate change will impact NJ in the coming decades. I hope the Governor goes. We can't get ahead using the tremendous opportunity green technology & innovation and energy savings present if the guy at the top doesn't get it.
Climate Change Science Panel
Today: 12 pm
State House Annex, Committee Room 1 on 1st Floor
Open to the Public
Panel Sponsored By: Environment New Jersey, NJ Sierra Club, NJ Conservation Foundation, NY/NJ Baykeeper, Highlands Coalition, NJ Environmental Lobby, ANJEC and Audubon Society.
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Mon Nov 22, 2010 at 05:50:29 PM EST
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Our year was marked in January by the NJ Legislature's failure to do the right thing on marriage equality, and as our year turned cold again, 2010 was marked by the loss of 18-year-old Tyler Clementi, who threw himself off the George Washington Bridge after two people he knew appeared to betray him. (A federal higher-education anti-harrassment bill, introduced by Frank Lautenberg in the Senate and Rush Holt in the House, is named for Tyler Clementi).
But today was a sweet victory in NJ, something to be Thankful for as we sit down and think about our gratitudes later this week, for the kids - all kinds of kids - who may now benefit from our renewed commitment to respect them, particularly at the places where they go to learn. The Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights passed both houses of the legislature today. It requires anti-bullying programs in public schools and codes of conduct in our colleges and universities.
We owe special thanks to: Prime Sponsors in the Assembly Valerie Vainieri Huttle & Mary Pat Angelini and in the Senate Barbara Buono, Diane Allen & Loretta Weinberg. Sponsors include Steve Sweeney, Senate President, Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean, Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver & Assembly Republican Leader Alex DeCroce.
All that's needed now is a signature from Gov. Chris Christie. Here's some early response, after the jump. Please add your own if the spirit moves you.
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