Professional Opportunities
Fellowships
Governor's Hispanic Fellows Program - NJ Center for Hispanic Policy, Research and Development
New Jersey Reparations Council Research Fellowship - New Jersey Institute for Social Justice
Manager, People Development - Ironbound Community Corporation of (Newark, NJ)
Executive Director - Wafa House, Inc. (Fair Lawn, NJ)
Chapter Organizer - Lift Every Voice Philly (LEV) (Philadelphia, PA)
Prevention Specialist - NJ Coalition Against Sexual Assault (Mercer County, NJ)
Policy Analyst - Inclusiv (West New York, NJ)
Upcoming Events
Fighting for Ocean Justice
Part of the Dr. Roxane Gay collection
Monday, November 13, 2023
7:00pm
Rutgers Academic Building, Room 2400
15 Seminary Place New Brunswick, NJ 08901
Dr. Roxane Gay, the Gloria Steinem Endowed Chair in Media, Culture and Feminist Studies at Rutgers, will be joined by Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson for a conversation on the role of the ocean in climate solutions and how we can advance "ocean justice.”
Featuring:
Dr. Roxane Gay, the Gloria Steinem Endowed Chair in Media, Culture and Feminist Studies, is an author, professor, editor, social commentator, and contributing writer for the New York Times. She is the author of best sellers Hunger, Bad Feminist, and Difficult Women, and has a newsletter, The Audacity, and a podcast, The Roxane Gay Agenda.
Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson is a marine biologist, policy expert, and writer. She is co-founder of the non-profit think tank Urban Ocean Lab, co-editor of the bestselling climate anthology All We Can Save, and author of the forthcoming book What If We Get it Right?
Learn more about the event and register here.
Rutgers Climate Symposium 2023: In Search of Solutions
Wednesday, November 15, 2023
9:00am
Douglass Student Center
100 George St, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA
Fostering collaboration among researchers and students from institutions in the greater NJ, NY, and Philadelphia region who are interested in climate change, renewable energy, energy efficiency, or other approaches to reducing greenhouse gas emissions across disciplines representing climate science, human dimensions, technology, the arts, communications, and humanities.
Featuring:
Orville Grey, International Institute for Sustainable Development
John P. Krasting, NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory
Lisa Beth Robinson, East Carolina University
Benjamin Sovacool, Boston University
Kristen Thielking, University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point
Learn more about the event and register here.
Rutgers MAPATHON 2023
Wednesday, November 15th, 2023
4:30-6:30pm
Alexander Library
169 College Ave, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
Mapathon on GIS Day during National Geography Awareness Week, allows volunteers to help create maps of high vulnerability areas where data is scarce, enabling disaster responders and aid organizations to reach those in need.
You will contribute geospatial data to OpenStreetMap, a free and editable map of the world that is used by communities, organizations and governments worldwide to address local development challenges and aid disaster response. Our project will be decided closer to the date. In past years, Rutgers students, staff, and faculty worked together on a mapping project to help NGO efforts with relief operations in Puerto Rico, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania. No mapping experience or knowledge is necessary. Training will be provided. Join at any time during the scheduled event!
Rutgers Informatics Forum: Open Data & Artificial Intelligence
Friday, November 17th, 2023
12:00-1:00pm
Virtual on Zoom
This webinar will focus on the impact of open data and generative AIs on society and public policy. The forum will consist of a panel of eminent experts from the government, academia, business & media. These experts will present their views on topics of growing importance related to open data and AI with a focus on the individual, educational, corporate and societal impacts, and policy implications.
The panel includes eminent experts as our guest speakers:
Poonam Soans, Chief Data Officer & Director of Application Development, State of New Jersey;
Rakesh Kumar, PhD, Vice President, ICS, Center for Vision Technology, SRI International;
Clint Andrews, PhD, Professor & Associate Dean, Bloustein school, Rutgers University,
Rachel Rosenthal, Bloomberg, Editorial Board member.
The welcome note will be provided by the Bloustein Dean and Professor, Dr. Stuart Shapiro, and the expert panel discussion will be moderated by Professor Jim Samuel, Executive Director of Informatics programs at Bloustein, Rutgers University.
New Jersey Election Highlights
General Facts
There are 40 seats in the New Jersey Senate,. Before the election, Democrats held a majority with 25 seats to the Republicans 15.
There are 80 seats in the New Jersey General Assembly, with two Assembly-persons representing each of the 40 districts. Before the election, Democrats held a majority with 46 seats to the Republicans 34.
According to the NJ Department of State, Division of Elections, there were 6,494,988 registered voters on Election Day 2023. Majority of voters were registered as Democrats (2,503,776), while 1,541,671 residents were registered as as Republicans. Those not registered with a party, or Independents, were the second largest voting block with 2,370,438 residents.
(source)
The Senate
Republicans gained a seat from District 12 (covering parts of Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean Counties), but lost their seat in District 3 (covering parts of Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem Counties), seeing their incumbent Senator Durr replaced by Democratic Senator Burzichelli.
The General Assembly
Democrats picked up five additional seats, growing their majority from 46 to 51 seats compared to the diminished Republican 29 seats.
Election Day Results
Visit the NJ Spotlight News website here to review the Election results by voting district. You can find your voting district on the map they provide!
National Updates
House Censures Rashida Tlaib, Citing ‘River to the Sea’ Slogan - The New York Times
“The House voted on Tuesday to censure Representative Rashida Tlaib, Democrat of Michigan, formally rebuking the sole Palestinian American in Congress for her statements regarding the Israel-Hamas war…It is rare for a member of Congress to be censured, which amounts to a public reprimand one step below expulsion. Before June, the House had censured its own members just 24 times in the chamber’s history.”
Behind closed doors, Johnson sounds a cautious note on SNAP - POLITICO
“Speaker Mike Johnson privately conceded this week that Republicans may not succeed in further slashing the nation’s massive food assistance program for low-income Americans, according to two GOP lawmakers present at a closed-door meeting with Johnson.”
Victory in Ohio Represents Seventh Straight Electoral Win for Abortion Rights - Truthout
“On Tuesday night, the movement for reproductive rights continued its winning streak with a decisive win for Issue 1 in Ohio, which enshrines the right to abortion in the state’s constitution. With more than 95 percent of the votes in, Issue 1 passed with 56.6 percent of the vote. Now, a state in which Republicans have routinely been at the forefront of restricting and banning abortion will be forced by its own constitution to protect this most basic right, and all because the voters of Ohio said so. Every Ohioan now has a constitutional right to abortion care.”
Cities know the way police respond to mental crisis calls needs to change. But how? - NPR
“Cities across the country are experimenting with new ways to meet rapidly increasing demand for behavioral health crisis intervention, at a time when stories of police shooting and killing people in mental health crisis have become painfully familiar. Big questions persist about these efforts: what role should law enforcement play in mental crisis response, if any? How can leaders make sure the right kind of response is dispatched to meet the needs of a person in crisis? And what kind of on-going support is necessary after a crisis response call?”
Local & Regional Updates
Maplewood cop with traditional African hairstyle sues for hair discrimination - New Jersey Monitor
“A Black police officer in Maplewood who was disciplined for her hairstyle has sued her boss and the township, accusing them of violating a 2019 state law that prohibits race discrimination based on hair texture and natural Black hairstyles like braids, locks, and twists. Officer Chian Weekes-Rivera, a 10-year veteran of the force, wore Bantu knots — a traditional African hairstyle — to work on Aug. 20, according to a lawsuit filed last week in state Superior Court in Essex County.”
Advocates push for lame-duck action on social justice - NJ Spotlight News
“Members of social justice groups on Wednesday criticized state lawmakers for letting about 20 bills stall that they say would have tremendous impact on New Jersey residents, in particular working-class families and Black and brown communities. The groups met for a virtual event. “It’s time to get back to Trenton and keep on working on behalf of the people of New Jersey,” said Assatta Mann, senior organizer for the League of Women Voters of New Jersey.”
Syphilis is rising among U.S. babies. Here's where NY and NJ rank. - Gothamist
“Syphilis has been making a comeback across the U.S. in recent years after it was nearly eliminated in the early 2000s. And federal officials say the trend is having a troubling side effect: A growing number of babies are born with the infectious disease, which can be fatal or lead to serious complications for infants. In 2022, 3,761 cases of congenital syphilis were reported across the country, more than 10 times as many as a decade prior, according to a report the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released on Tuesday.”
“Countless Americans will not only benefit from the faster, more efficient, and more reliable transportation this unprecedented funding will enable, but the thousands of good-paying jobs these projects will generate as well.”
