April 2016

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ—New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has proposed a $2.57 million cut to New Jersey Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) funding in the 2017 fiscal year.

The budget for EOF funding statewide would go from $41.3 million to $38.8 million under the proposal, approximately 6% cut in funding.  The state budget

EOF is a unique statewide program that supports low-income, first-generation college students.

There are over 2,600 students across the three Rutgers campuses who benefit from EOF funding.

PARSIPPANY, NJ–Two NJ-based entities were churning out deceptive, intimidating, and illegal collections lawsuits, but have been ordered to stop, according to action taken on April 25 by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

Law firm Pressler & Pressler, LLP, and debt buyer, New Century Financial Services, Inc., are now barred from their practices of deceiving and intimidating consumers, such as filing lawsuits without verifying the validity of debts in question.

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ–After her March 26 set at New Brunswick’s Stress Factory Comedy Club ended in boos and jeers, Margaret Cho returned to the Hub City on April 21 for a surprise “do-over” show orchestrated by none other than Jerry Seinfeld.

PISCATAWAY, NJ–Rutgers football secured commitments from four New Jersey recruits, including two of the state's top players, in just over a week.

The Scarlet Knights secured a pair of four-star recruits in Cedar Creek wide receiver Bo Melton and St. John Vianney offensive tackle Micah Clark. Clark's teammate, guard Jamaal Beaty, as well as Burlington wide receiver, committed as well.

Paid sick time is a New Brunswick law through which workers earn between 24-40 hours of paid sick time off a year.

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ–In September, Johnson & Johnson agreed to pay $5 million to settle a Garden State pelvic mesh lawsuit with a woman who required multiple surgeries to remove the material from her body, according to a report from Bloomberg.

The woman, Pamela Wicker claimed that Ethicon’s Prolift mesh crumbled and decayed inside her causing sex to be painful, thus needing “multiple surgeries.”

Ethicon is the J&J subsidiary which manufactured the vaginal-mesh insert, a medical device used to treat incontinence.

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ–Rutgers University students have adopted the Arbor trail located behind the University Inn and Conference Center on Cook campus.

In January of 2016, the Naturalist club acquired funds from the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences (SEBS) governing council, and the Rutgers alumni association matched the SEBS funding.

A partnership between The Naturalist club, the fraternity Alpha Zeta, Landscape and Environmental Design club, and Deana Pagnozzi of the Inn oversees the revitalization and maintenance of the Arbor trail.