New Jersey Governor Chris Christie announced a decision to merge three south jersey schools, Rowan University, Rutgers University, and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ), earlier this year. Despite this, Rutgers University’s strong opposition to the merger has recently forced a change in the original bill.

Rowan officials, including President Ali Houshmand, had first proposed a plan to completely unite the Universities. Rowan would take financial control of Rutgers-Camden, while the Rutgers-Newark Campus would control the Robert Wood Johnston Medical School, part of the UMDNJ in Newark. New committee boards would have been established to govern the individual campuses under one committee that served the three campuses as a whole.

In theory, these changes would turn Rowan into a research school, receiving more state grants to fund projects. New programs would be created by combining the resources of each of the schools, including a biomedical engineering program, a medical school, and a law school.

The cost of the plan was barely discussed, but it is estimated that Rutgers-Camden would have payed $40 to $50 million dollars, with Rowan paying even more.

January polls showed that 59 percent of registered voters did not favor the takeover, and a mere 19 percent supported it. In February, these numbers only changed slightly, with 57 percent opposed and 22 percent in favor. On the other hand, Chris Christie was standing strong in his plan, saying “I’m supporting my plan, we’re going to move forward with my plan and my plan’s going to be implemented. The people of Rutgers-Camden need to get ready for that.”

Vibiana Cvetkovic, a librarian at Rutgers-Camden, summed up the majority of opposition: “If this bill becomes a law, we will be an eviscerated institution, a RINO – Rutgers in Name Only.”

The new proposition favors each of the Universities better, and promises Rutgers the independence they desire.  Rowan will still be labeled a Research University and receive higher funding, but Rutgers will keep financial control of each of its three institutions. The two universities will still merge undergraduate and graduate programs to offer more options to south jersey students, but each school will keep their own name and funding.

State Senator Donald Norcross, a strong supporter of the new plan, believes the merger will help New Jersey. “The fact of the matter is New Jersey ranks 47th out of 50 in its support for higher ed,” he said. “Now we have restructured higher ed in New Jersey so that we will go from 47th to the top tier.”

Rutgers President Richard McCormick agrees. “Overall, the bill appears to advance the goals of enhancing medical education across the state, boosting Rutgers’ standing among its peer institutions.”

The new bill passed in the Assembly with a vote of 60-18.  In the Senate, the bill passed 29-9. Chris Christie, though adamant that reform is needed within the higher education system in New Jersey, still supports the new bill.

Board meetings still must decide the fate of UMDNJ, and whether or not the medical school will still fall under Rutgers’ control. Under this new bill, the proposition is for all of UMDNJ to belong to Rutgers-Newark, besides the University Hospital.

Image Courtesy of   Governor Chris Christie

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Despite rocketing fuel prices and rampant obesity, active travel in the U.S. rose only slightly from 2001 to 2009, with an increase in the share of trips by walking and cycling just 1.9 percent and 0.1 percent respectively, according to the National Household Travel Surveys. The study, published on May 6 in the American Journal of Public Health, was written by four PhD researchers (John Pucher, Ralph Buehler, Dafna Merom and Adrian Bauman) interested in monitoring rates of walking and biking among Americans, as this is the healthiest and most sustainable means of transport we actually have.

Unlike the old statistical methods used by the U.S. Census Bureau, which reported a sharp decrease in the number of people walking to work as their main mode of transportation over the last five decades (from 10.3 percent in 1960 to 2.9 percent in 2009), the telephone surveys conducted by NHTS used more sophisticated systems of capturing data, and instead reported on travel in the U.S. for all trip purposes.

Results did not display any satisfactory turnaround in the usual travel behavior of Americans, who in fact are said to be excessively car-addicted and sedentary, compared to worldwide standards. “American cities have a long way to go to catch up to walking and cycling levels in Europe, which are about 3 to 5 times higher than in the United States,” researchers stated.

However, the good news is, such an alarming pattern is slowly reversing. Analysis published on the American Journal of Public Health revealed that “the average American made 17 more walk in 2009 than in 2001, covering 9 more miles per year, compared with only 2 more bike trips, and 5 more miles cycling.” Moreover, in 2009 walk and cycle trips for utilitarian purposes, such as going to work or accessing public transport, were overwhelming, accounting for three quarters.

But why are Americans are so slow to get used to the idea of walking and cycling as everyday modes of transport? Laziness? Suburban sprawl? Nothing of the kind. According to John Pucher, professor at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J., and his research colleagues, it deals with an enormous question of lack of infrastructure, such as protected lanes for cyclists, good sidewalks for pedestrians, crosswalks, intersection crossings and so on.

In fact, traveling by bike or walking is difficult if you feel your environment is threatening and dangerous: “getting from point A to point B is a really daunting experience in many American cities because of such lousy pedestrian and cycling facilities,” Pucher argued.

Surveys detected shocking differences among the various population subgroups concerning active travel trends. Walk and bike trips increased a little only among men, the employed, the 45-64 year olds, those well-educated, and without a car. Conversely walking and biking declined for all the most vulnerable: namely women, children and seniors.

Suffice it to say that in 2009 walking significantly dropped among the elderly by up to 4.2 percent, while cycling prevalence for women revealed to be almost three times lower than men. “That says we’re doing something wrong in the United States,” Pucher pointed out.

The warning issued by NHTS researchers cannot be underestimated, not only for pollution concerns, but also because there is mounting evidence regarding the relationship between sedentary lifestyle and several health diseases.

According to World Health Organization , physical inactivity is, along with tobacco and alcohol, one of the main risk factors for mortality. Also the United States, Australia and United Kingdom continue to register extraordinarily high obesity rates, with an even worsening epidemic among children and adolescents.

The time has come to work for a more sustainable life, yet, as Pucher said, being very clear how to do it, “we just don’t do it.”

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