Students stand up for U.S. health care reform

The New Jersey Public Interest Research Group held a presentation yesterday targeting students who face the uncertainty of health care coverage upon graduation.  Equipped with statistics, visuals and an endorsement from Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-6, the group urged support for health care reform. The student chapter set up shop in front of Brower Commons on the College Avenue campus despite the chilly, overcast weather conditions. “The current health care system is failing America’s youth,” said NJPIRG intern Sophia Fishbane, a School of Arts and Sciences student. “Americans aged 18 to 24 are the most likely people in the country to lack health insurance.” Full story

Head of the Class

Savage matures into leadership role as statistics make him most successful freshman quarterback

Through the first 11 weeks of the 2009 college football season, nine teams have true freshmen starting at quarterback. Of the nine, only six have more touchdowns than turnovers and only two quarterbacks have a winning record. One is Southern California’s Matt Barkley — the consensus best quarterback recruit in the country on a team ranked No. 4 to open the season. The other is Tom Savage. Savage, the starting quarterback for the Rutgers football team, leads all true freshmen in the nation with his .857 winning percentage (6-1 as a starter), passer rating (134.82) and touchdowns per interceptions ratio (5:1). Full story

Trivia bowl quizzes hundreds from U. community

University affiliates answered questions, text messaged and tested their knowledge Wednesday night at the Cook/Douglass Recreational Center. Styled after “Jeopardy!,” contestants of the 22nd annual “Trivia Bowl” answered questions to rounds such as sports, presidents, “name that tune,” entertainment and human anatomy. Throughout the night, bonus questions allowed participants a chance at different prizes. “I enjoyed the categories. They were a little bit tougher this year than last year. Overall, it was fair,” said Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy student Kenneth Biason, whose team placed in second last year. A new portion of the event included a text message battle. “We included a new twist on trivia [by] adding [a] speed texting competition, which would be a feature event in the upcoming months,” said host Paul Fischbach, associate director of University Recreation. The winning team this year included three University alumni: Daniel Benovitz and Full story

City banks on construction projects to boost job growth

In the midst of the economic recession, city officials are hoping that initiatives toward various construction projects will help revive New Brunswick.  New Brunswick City Spokesman Bill Bray said because of efforts like the Gateway Project, the city is expecting a decent amount of job growth in the coming years. “A lot of what the city has done, the construction over the past two decades, has brought jobs to New Brunswick,” Bray said. “These jobs are being filled by the New Brunswick residents." Full story

Rutgers Women's Basketball vs. BC

Video Recap

The Rutgers Women's Basketball team defeated Boston College on Thursday November 19, 2009, 59 to 53. Full story