There are only two more class days until the most indulgent break of the year. Yes, Thursday is Thanksgiving, a time when Americans give thanks for the fact that they can ignore all of life's stressors for one day, stuff themselves with larger quantities of food than should be humanly bearable and vegetate for hours staring at pigskins and parades. So, Rutgers students, get all your work done this weekend because everyone knows turkey is an immobilizing drug that will leave you unable to accomplish anything that requires thought or motion - unless you are one of those crazies who will trample over your friends' heads at way-too-early o'clock on Friday just so you can say you snagged a $50 laptop. So, between hurriedly writing the five essays you have due on Nov. 28 and daydreaming about your grandma's pumpkin pie, take some time to read this week's laurels and darts. * * * The University's own Dr. Wise Young has been named one of the "Best & Brightest 2005" by Esquire Magazine. Young is an acclaimed neuroscientist and spinal cord injury researcher, and he is also a favorite professor of budding neuroscientists at the University. Before coming to Rutgers, Young directed a neuroscience research team at New York University that discovered the effectiveness of methylprednisolone in treating spinal injuries. Young is a powerful advocate for stem cell research, which could hold the keys for restoring activity and sensitivity to those who have suffered severe spinal cord injuries. He is also attempting to implement more than a dozen spinal trauma centers in China, where crucial research could be performed. Young practices his science with a dedication to human compassion and often updates spinal injury patients on emerging ideas and technologies. For being named one of the "Best & Brightest 2005" and, more importantly, for exhibiting a dedication to the human side of neuroscience, Dr. Wise Young gets a laurel. * * * In Kalamazoo, Mich., an anonymous group announced it would donate enough money to provide scholarships for most of the town's high school graduates for the next 13 years. The scholarships will cover roughly 65-100 percent of a student's college tuition at a state university or community college. The longer students have been enrolled in the town's school system, the more money they will receive. Civic leaders are looking forward to the draw of businesses that will accommodate the college graduates and homebuyers with children. For ensuring a promising future for an entire community of students with an act of amazing generosity, the benefactors of the Kalamazoo School District get a laurel. * * * This week was AIDS Awareness Week, and the University's Black Student Union organized a series of events to increase awareness and provide information about AIDS and general public health. One seminar focused on the lack of partner communication in the face of a possible threat, especially in the case of homosexual males who participate in heterosexual relations and do not inform their partners of such a history. Another program focused on HIV in children, which accounts for 13 percent of new infections and 17 percent of AIDS-related deaths. Finally, a seminar concerning AIDS in women, and very prevalently, AIDS in black women, was especially important considering that 64 percent of female HIV infections occur in black women. The Black Student Union initiated this AIDS Awareness program last April, and this year members plan to expand it to programs in both semesters. For encouraging awareness concerning one of the world's deadliest epidemics and providing knowledge for prevention of future infections in high-risk communities, the Black Student Union gets a laurel. * * * Last Friday morning, a group of vandals attacked the sign of the Trinity House on College Avenue. Structural beams were broken, and the cross now leans precariously forward. The "We hope …" message was painted over to say "We hope we're right," as some sort of condemnation of the house's mantra. The Trinity House serves as a campus ministry community center where students can pray together, discuss current issues and participate in various activities. Rutgers Hillel house and certain fraternities have been subject to similar vandalism in the recent past, and are quick to offer support to an organization that helped them out in their time of need. For acting in a cowardly and base manner against an organization that only serves to promote the importance of faith, love and community, the Trinity House vandals get a dart.
Laurels and darts
Published: Friday, November 18, 2005
Updated: Sunday, February 22, 2009
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